West Coast Heritage Centre — Attraction in Zeehan

Very interesting place to visit. Allow half a day. Expensive entry of $25 per person. Unfortunately I think people are put off by that - in fact standing outside, I saw many tourists look at the sign, make comment on the entry fee and walk on. Inside, there are great displays on minerals - never thought lumps of rock could be so beautiful. Perhaps a display on what these minerals are turned into, why they are mined - why do they mine crocite. The workshops and mining displays are well done - interesting and immersive. Another reviewer mentioned that the exhibits look to be done by amateurs and I agree with this. There is little evidence of the entrance fee going towards maintaining exhibits with quite a few displays needing some love (such as the 1950’s era clothes shoved on a couple of racks and put in a dark room; the Masonic room looks like a jumble of furniture in a small room and the Gaiety simply looks neglected - mind you, that’s exactly how it is now sadly). There are a couple of extremely interesting old records from Hobart Gaol in the Magistrates Court - we need more of this to bring this room alive, to tie it to the past, otherwise it’s just a room. I found the old pictures of original conditions the best, especially concerning places I had visited recently, such as the vanished Balfour, and Zeehan itself in its heyday. All in all, made me realise that I definitely would not do well as a prospector in those days. What...

An impressive and extensive collection of a myriad of things related to the history of Zeehan that have been carefully preserved by local volunteers. It was a little like the Tardis - bigger on the inside than would appear from the outside. Incorporates several buildings including the old Gaiety Theatre and Court House. The place is like a rabbit warren - you do want to follow every trail to its very end because another surprise exhibit will greet you. We went as a family group of 5 and wandered about at our own pace. When we regrouped some found out they had missed a section or other of this huge collection of displays. The outdoor area covers quite a large block of land and there are a lot of things to see. If you bear in mind that this is a volunteer museum with little access to state of the art technological display methodologies to be expected of deep pocket metropolitan museums, you will be suitably impressed. A good way to spend a couple of hours soaking up and learning about a by gone era which has left such an impression on the land even if much of it is now dust and Zeehan looks like a ghost town from the main street. You can get some decent packaged heated pies from a portable Cafe truck right next to the...

It offers far more than you expect looking from the outside, but is it worth $25? Not really, and I think they're shooting themselves in the foot making it so high given I'd heard two couples verbally say "no way!" to the entry price - makes me wonder how many potential entrants this place is turning away by such a high ticket price.

Inside is a wealth of old photographs of the west coast, particularly of the old mines but also of West Coast towns as they were in their heyday. You also gain entry into the adjacent cinema and does a fairly good job at giving an authentic feel to what it was like walking through the hallway to the showing room owing to the movie advertisement posters and vintage show reel that plays on loop. Overall, if the cost isn't too high for your liking, it is a nice experience and worth...