Mascot Library Re-opens ­ bigger and better!

Following a makeover that made it bigger and better, Mascot Library and the George Hanna Memorial Museum in Hatfield Street at Mascot is now reopened.  

In a joint project between Council and the Australian Government, we’ve got a new first floor and a bigger ground floor at the library and museum.  I had the privilege to officially reopen the library in partnership with the Australian Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese (see photo below).  

In September 1983, as a young mayor I had the honour to open the Mascot Library, then a building ahead of its time. After that we all worked hard to get the museum going so that the history of our City was preserved for future generations.  The library has grown and so too has the museum – in fact they had outgrown the original building.  As a Council, we didn’t have the financial resources to build the sort of library and museum that our City deserved.  

It was the Australian Government, through its economic stimulus package for local government that provided the financial backing for the project.  The people of our City now have a new and tremendous community asset, one which will benefit us for generations to come. The library and museum is not the only project where our City is benefitting from the Australian Government’s backing of local government.  Hensley Field is taking shape as a multi-sport, multi-user facility that will also benefit our City for decades to come.  

This is another Council-Australian Government project.  So too is the construction of a cycleway/footpath along Wentworth Avenue that will connect Mascot and Botany with Eastgardens – a missing link that Council by itself couldn’t have funded.  The Australian Government and Anthony Albanese have shown they are listening to local government and supporting projects that have real community benefit and by using local builders and contractors we boost out local economy and jobs.