Great Scot September 2018 Gt Scot_154_September_online | Page 64

Development
DETAIL FROM 1891 HEAD OF THE RIVER WINNING OAR
New Archives Museum and
OSCA House: a perfect pairing
ABOVE: 1892 OLD SCOTCH
COLLEGIANS’ CUP WON BY
ROBERT SEYMOUR REID
(SC 1888-90).
MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT THIS
IMPORTANT
PROJECT, AND
HOW YOU CAN
HELP BRING IT TO
FRUITION, CAN
BE FOUND IN THE
BOOKLET THAT
ACCOMPANIES
THIS EDITION OF
GREAT SCOT.
64
Scotch College currently houses its Archives offices,
working areas and storage in two near-century old houses
in Morrison Street, in buildings long recognised as being
incompatible with these purposes.
The oldest surviving secondary school in Victoria, with
possibly the best archival collection of the APS schools,
Scotch is determined to preserve these aspects of its
heritage in a facility that better protects, reflects and
honours the quality and breadth of the collection, and that
of the School’s 167 years of history.
The School’s collection contains many unique items,
including Scotch registers from 1857 to 1997, Scotch’s
earliest surviving blazer (more than 110 years old), school
reports, and thousands of photographs.
The Ramsay Collection, bequeathed to Scotch by
Old Boy Sir Thomas Ramsay (‘24), contains priceless
items, such as a 1771 letter by Captain James Cook (and
his barometer), Matthew Flinders’ personally-inscribed
Observations, the prosecutor’s brief in the trial of Ned Kelly,
and more than 20,000 other items collectively detailing the
history of Australasia and the Pacific Rim.
The upgraded and expanded Paton Family Museum,
named in recognition of the exceptional generosity of Geoff
Paton (‘57), to be housed in a new space between 2 and 3
Morrison Street, will safeguard the School’s precious history
and bring many Scotch stories to life. The addition of a new
fireproof vault will secure the entire collection. Permanent
visual histories of the School, and of the Old Scotch
Collegians’ Association (OSCA) will adorn the walls of the
museum, and will be complemented by displays of items
that can be rotated throughout the school year, utilising a
range of traditional displays and modern technology.
Extended work areas for the Archivist and volunteers, a
teaching space for students, and the Geoffrey Donaldson
(‘31) Meeting Room are all welcome purpose-built
additions to the new facility.
OSCA House, adjoining the Paton Family Museum, will
be a new home for the Old Scotch Collegians’ Association,
and its Executive Director and his staff, and will provide
support for the Victorian Scottish Heritage Cultural
Foundation.
The relocation of the OSCA offices from the Randall
Building across the road to 3 Morrison Street will enhance
OSCA’s capabilities and profile, and its capacity to engage
with members of the Scotch Family. The new facility will
include a reading room, small function area and library for
Old Boys to drop in, conduct research, read the paper,
have a coffee and enjoy a chat. In this way, more inviting
spaces will better enable OSCA to deliver its mission of
supporting the School and its Old Boys. An OSCA Gallery
of 100 influential Old Boys will be a special feature of the
building.
Pending City of Boroondara planning approval, it is
anticipated that these works will commence in the final
quarter of 2018, to be ready for use by mid-2019.
Great Scot Number 154 – September 2018