New exhibition space for the Mobile Cook's Galley

The historic Mobile Cook’s Galley move to the Museum in the Garden was planned extensively to minimise any impact. Photo: Wagga City Council.

A state heritage-listed Mobile Cook’s Galley has been moved to the Museum of Riverina’s (MoR) new building at the Botanic Gardens.

The artefact was moved to the Museum in the Garden as part of the MoR Redevelopment Project and the Mobile Cook’s Galley Conservation Project on 1 July.

The historic mobile kitchen was used during the 1930s and 1940s to prepare food for the chaff cutting team operated by the Fife family.

In 1934, carpenter Jim McGilvray and Harold Fife made the mobile kitchen from recycled materials.

The historic kitchen with its original wood stove and cutlery are extremely rare.

The Galley is one of the Museum’s most important and largest objects and there is only one other example of the kitchen at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

MoR manager Luke Grealy said the operation to relocate the mobile kitchen to its new exhibition space went according to plan.

“This object weighs just over five-and-a-half tonnes and is almost 90 years old,” he said.

“Jim McGilvray and Harold Fife demonstrated their ingenuity and extraordinary skills in the design and construction of this wonderful object.

“It towed out of the storage shed beautifully, with the wheels and pivots moving smoothly.”

The mobile kitchen was made from recycled materials in 1934. Photo: Wagga City Council.

Two small cranes and hand-operated chain hoists were used to raise the five-and-a-half tonne object and then place it on a custom-made steel plinth where it will remain for public display. Photo: Wagga City Council.

The Mobile Cook's Galley was a mobile kitchen used to prepare food for the chaff cutting team operated by the Fife family during the 1930s and 1940s. Photo: Wagga City Council.

The moving process was overseen by two contracted expert museum conservators. Photo: Wagga City Council.

Mr Grealy said the kitchen was loaded onto a tilt tray truck, which was reversed into the new space.

“It was raised with the use of custom-made supports lifted by two mini cranes and two hand-operated chain hoists,” he said.

“It was then placed on a steel plinth where it will remain now in preparation for public display.

“The new building has, in a sense, been designed around this significant object; relocating it safely was critical.”

Two expert museum conservators were contracted to oversee the move and perform conservation work on the galley.

Conservator Kim Morris said the move was planned extensively to minimise any impact.

“The preservation of the galley was the highest priority of the move,” he said.

The MoR Redevelopment Project aims to make major improvements to the museum’s exhibition spaces, collection storage and staff area.

The Museum has two sites – the Historic Council Chambers, which hosts temporary and travelling exhibitions and the Botanic Garden site, which holds the museum’s collections and displays semi-permanent local exhibitions.

The NSW Government is funding the Mobile Cook’s Galley Conservation Project under the Caring for State Heritage category of the NSW Heritage Grants Program and Wagga Wagga City Council.