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Community

10 June, 2021

Babinda Museum Walkway opens

THE Babinda community celebrated two important events in late May when the Babinda State Hotel celebrated its 104th birthday, and the Mayor of Cairns officially opened the Babinda Museum Walk in the main street.


Babinda Museum Walkway opens - feature photo

The Babinda State Hotel had a unique history, being built and run by the Queensland Government for over twenty years when the Babinda Sugar Mill opened.

The Hotel’s 104th birthday and the opening of the heritage walk were celebrated with a morning tea at the hotel, and then guests moved to the footpath in front of the Hotel for the Mayor to officially open the Museum Walk.

The morning tea was hosted by the Friends of Babinda Museum, a group working to open and fund a museum in Babinda.

The Museum Walk has been in planning for over a year and considerable research locally and in the archives in Brisbane has taken place to locate photos and information about the early businesses and settlers.

Tanya Tuttle, President of the Babinda Taskforce, said: “The opening of the Walk was a celebration of the triumph of Babinda over considerable natural and economic events over its history.

The town was newly built and only five years old when the 1918 cyclone devastated every building in the town.

Babinda has suffered from cyclone devastation many times including in recent years. One of these cyclones caused the closure of the Babinda Sugar Mill, the main employer in the town, when it was severely damaged.

Since then, the Babinda community has worked closely together to rebuild the town and its economy”.


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