Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative (Wathaurong) is excited to now formally announce the successful acquisition of what was previously known as Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre and will now be established and known as Wathaurong Booln Booln Cultural Centre. Booln Booln (pronounced Bool-en Bool-en) in Waddawurrung language means Lyrebird, the speaker of all languages, symbolic of our many mobs, one community coming together. Wathaurong will be staging a phased re-opening of Booln Booln for our region, with CEO Simon Flagg stating the importance of putting the right operating model in place, as well as ensuring the facilities are ready for re-opening.
“The site does require some refurbishment and upkeep to make sure that we can set up culturally appropriate programs that are suitable for a range of different groups,” said Mr Flagg. There will be activity on site over the coming months with some meetings and community gatherings being held in the space, however the facility will remain closed to the general public until early 2025, with the exception that the retail store will be re-opening on Monday 2nd December 2024 in time for Christmas gift shopping. The retail store will be open 6 days per week, Monday- Saturday. Throughout this time, the animals on site are continuing to be cared for and will remain a popular feature of the site when ready for public re-opening. The retail space will be re-vamped to include more locally sourced Aboriginal products, and we will shortly be releasing an EOI for local mob to stock our retail space. Stay tuned to our social media pages for further updates. Wathaurong looks forward to welcoming the community back into the space as soon as possible.
