Community
14 April, 2025
Sweet dreams for historian
A SUGAR museum at the now defunct Mossman sugar mill site is the dream solution for Douglas Shire Historical Society stalwart Pam Willis Burden.
Expressions of interest have recently been requested by mill liquidators Worrells from potential purchasers to buy the remainder of the mill’s assets.
It is hoped that a final settlement may be achieved by mid-May.
Real estate agents Colliers are handling the sale.
Historical society members, including Ms Willis Burden, believe this could be an excellent time and opportunity to retain some of Mossman’s history before it is too late.
“We don’t expect to purchase the whole area, but maybe a new owner would allow the community to utilise a small part of the current mill site,” Ms Willis Burden said.
“A sugar museum would teach young kids that sugar comes from cane and not just a packet,” she said.
Ms Willis Burden believes it could be developed over a couple of stages at least.
“Stage one would include a display of Indigenous history and representation of migrant workers over the years, such as South Sea Islanders, Japanese and Indians,” she said.
Ms Willis Burden would also like to see a visitor centre for travellers to enjoy and potentially encourage them to extend their stay.
She said longer term stage two would be to develop a regional arts gallery on the site.
“It’s something people have been asking for decades,” Ms Willis Burden said.
Apart from talking to candidates for the next federal election with the hope of obtaining a future grant, she has also written to billionaire Clive Palmer and other influential people with a presence in the Douglas Shire.
“Even if someone could contribute a couple of thousand dollars to help secure one or two of the cane bins, as they are currently being broken down and shipped off to Jakarta as scrap metal, and that’s our history going down the road,” Ms Willis Burden said.
Currently it is a waiting game to see who the new owner may be and then whether they are able to give the project a small area of the mill site.
