Cairns Historical Society

The Cairns Historical Society reported that they were still waiting to hear from the Cairns Regional Council about the start date for work on the School of Arts building.  It was originally hoped that the renovations would be finished this year but it now appears it may not even be started before the end of the year.  Planning and preparations for the new museum displays are well underway with the volunteers starting to identify and ready objects for the displays.  As a part of the re-vamp of all the Society's systems, a consultant and students have been working on a Business Plan.  They recently presented a report on charges and fees and as the membership fees have not changed for over ten years, a new fee structure is proposed which will need to include GST.  On other matters, the Society reported that they recently obtained two grants to upgrade the group's computer systems which will enable them to be set up properly when they return to the School of Arts building.  The group have also obtained improvements on their photographic catalogue database program and the archive and library catalogue program.  Unfortunately, the recent gathering to present the last bundle of history papers saw a disappointing turn out of less that a dozen members in attendance.  This situation may require some attention.