There were celebrations in Greenbushes in August to mark 20 years since the doors of the Greenbushes Discovery Centre opened to the public.
The initial designer of the concepts for the centre and members of the inaugural committee were among the guests at a sundowner to celebrate the occasion.
Greenbushes Discovery Centre chairman Pat Scallan praised the vision of the original committee and the commitment of the volunteers who had manned the centre over such a sustained period.
“To begin at the beginning we have to go back to 1994 when the then local councillor Barbara Della Patrona led a local committee in developing the concepts for the Discovery Centre and securing a peppercorn lease for the building from the mine,” he said.
“We are fortunate that members of the initial committee Gill Hesketh, Leonie Eastcott, Terry Cooper, Joanne Godfrey and Derek Dilkes and the concepts designer John Davies were able to attend our celebrations and reflect on all the achievements of our centre.”
The Greenbushes Discovery Centre features unique interactive displays to highlight the towns timber milling, mining and farming heritage as well as its social history and culture.
The indoor displays are complemented by a suite of walk trails through the forest around Greenbushes including a link to the Bibbulmun Track and a Heritage Amble on the town’s main street.
The Greenbushes Discovery Centre was officially opened in 1998 by legendary footballer Graham “Polly” Farmer who spent six years of his childhood in Greenbushes at Sister Kate’s Home for Children.
