WA Museum Boola Bardip welcomed its 700,000th visitor this weekend, one year on since opening.
To mark the anniversary and milestone, the Museum hosted a weekend of celebrations including free tours, music performances, expert talks and family activities.
Julie Doessel from Swan View was the 700,000th visitor to the Museum. The family was presented with a Museum birthday gift bag featuring a toy of ‘Otto’ the blue whale and the Sharing Stories commemorative book.
In the year since opening the WA Museum Boola Bardip has won a number of prestigious awards including:
- 2020 Master Builders-Bankwest Excellence in Construction Awards – Best government building over $100 million, best historic restoration or renovation over $100 million and best public use building over $100 million;
- Western Australian Architecture Awards 2021 – the George Temple Poole Award, Jeffrey Howlett Award for public architecture and John Septimus Roe Award for urban design;
- 2021 AILA WA Landscape Architecture Awards – Civic Landscape – Award of Excellence;
- Cultural Heritage – Landscape Architecture Award;
- Museum and Gallery National Awards (MAGNA) – winner Permanent Exhibition and Gallery Fit Out, winner Interpretation, Learning and Audience Engagement, winner Sharing Stories Research project; and
- Museums Australia Multimedia & Publication Awards (MAPDA) – Highly Commended App Category for the Gogo Digital Guide.
As stated by Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
“The WA Museum Boola Bardip is an extraordinary cultural tourism attraction that showcases the extraordinary stories of our State. We are thrilled that so many Western Australians are taking the opportunity to explore their new Museum and the very significant stories and experiences within it.
“Western Australians have embraced the new WA Museum Boola Bardip and shown their enthusiasm with their feet. 700,000 people through the doors is an extraordinary achievement, made even better with a 99 per cent satisfaction rating from visitors.
“Such high attendances have been made possible thanks to the McGowan Government’s management of COVID-19 and the subsequent freedoms enjoyed by Western Australians, plus our commitment to providing free general admission to Boola Bardip for at least the first 18 months of operation.
“Western Australia has an incredibly vibrant culture and arts sector and major developments like the Museum and Art Gallery continue to draw people to the city contributing to the vibrancy and activation of our State.”
