Willow Grove and Parramatta's curious heritage struggle

Parramatta is an Australian heritage curiosity. This building, Willow Grove from the 1870s, is a small part of a much larger story of heritage neglect and missed heritage tourism opportunities. After the settlement of the British penal colony of New South Wales, Parramatta was, for a time, the main centre of the settlement. Today it's Sydney's second business district and home to Australia's oldest public building, oldest residential dwelling, oldest cemetery, oldest European grave, and more. It has many connections to the history of Indigenous dispossession. It's also Sydney's major population centre and the centre of a spectacularly overblown residential and commercial property development binge. But most Australians don't know about Parramatta as a place of heritage, and not very many people come to explore. This building is facing demolition or removal to build a massive new museum in Parramatta. The Powerhouse will be a Parramatta reprise of a long-neglected museum in Sydney's centre. It will not be the transformational heritage tourism idea Parramatta needs (that would be the old Female Factory site that developers seem excited by). Willow Grove may lack the historical depth of some of Parramatta's neglected big hitters, but Willow Grove is precious on a strip starved of space, greenery, light and character. As the sign notes, it's odd to destroy heritage to build a museum. But not in Parramatta. It's consistent with Parramatta's past form. It's a place that's stubbornly refused to capitalise on its heritage tourism potential. That looks set to continue. Watch out for developments on the Willow Grove story, check out the Female Factory site and check the Rusty Compass blog for more on Parramatta's neglected heritage.