Stock-take uncovers city’s public wealth

Alex de Vos
A stock-take of Geelong’s public cultural assets has revealed a treasure trove of “outdoor artefacts” worth more than $10 million, according to a councillor.
Barbara Abley said the audit found that Geelong had Victoria’s largest collection of artefacts such as statues, fountains, plaques, memorials and “contemporary artworks”.
Cr Abley, who holds council’s arts and culture portfolio, welcomed the results.
The stock-take covered City of Greater Geelong including the Lara area and Bellarine Peninsula. Staff located, valued and catalogued the artefacts to develop a register.
“The many artworks and memorials that grace our city and towns bring much pleasure to young and old alike and we’re thrilled to reveal this register to the public,” Cr Abley said.
The stock-take would also allow City Hall to develop a maintenance schedule and to determine treatment costs for each item, she said.
“The purpose of the project is to assist council maintain the city’s outdoor artworks in a good condition.
“Each piece of artwork and memorial is visually and physically assessed by officers as requiring urgent, high, medium or low-priority works.”
Cr Abley said the City spent up to $35,000 a year maintaining Geelong’s outdoor cultural assets.
“Unfortunately, we do know that some statues and memorials suffer damage at the hands of vandals, so it’s really important we have regular inspections and rely on observant members of the public reporting any instances of damage to council.”