History in our own backyard - A brief look at Penrith Power Station

The Museum of Fire is an iconic staple of the Penrith landscape and that is mostly due to the wonderful building that we are housed in today. The large grey building that we call home was once upon a time Penrith Power Station and has an intriguing history of its own, so let’s take a look at what is so special about our building!

Firstly, lets step back in time and make it clear as to when the Museum of Fire got involved. We come into the picture in 1985, where after the building had been abandoned for a number of years, we spruced up the place and made use of its high ceilings and open plan to house our extensive collection of fire engines, firefighter memorabilia and ephemera to the public. Opening on 16 of November 1986 the Museum of Fire has called Penrith Power Station home for almost 40 years and even though this place has become a space for memories, it has some of its own!

Penrith Power Station begins as a product of the times. It’s the early 1950s and NSW was suffering from significant power shortages after the Second World War. In an effort to recover and improve the situation, the NSW Electricity Commission organised for the erection of a series of power stations that could be easily and quickly constructed across the state, able to meet the demand that was now placed on the electricity network due to the economic boom of the 1950s. Altogether, seven power stations of this type would be built across the east coast in Port Kembla, Casula, Mildura, Ballarat, Geelong and Ipswich. Today the only known ones that are still in use, albeit not as a Power Station are Casula and Penrith, both being converted for the purposes of a museum.

Bringing it back to Penrith, this Power Station was especially significant because it was the first of the seven power stations to be constructed and in operation, opening in mid-1953. At the time, this Power Station represented a marvel of engineering, being one of the earliest examples of post war international style architecture. In particular, the roof of the Power Station would be a significant engineering feat, being made entirely of concrete and supported by a rod truss system which had never been seen before in Australia. In its prime Penrith Power Station provided electricity to its immediate surrounds of course, but also provided electricity to as far east as Blacktown, as far north as Windsor/Richmond and as far west as the Blue Mountains.

Penrith Power Station [Museum of Fire Collection]

Interestingly, during its time in operation, the Power Station was not always favourably looked upon, particularly by the residents of Penrith. Undoubtedly, the electricity provided by the Power Station was necessary and indeed lifesaving, however, the location of the Power Station, being right along the train line and really in the heart of Penrith meant that businesses and homes were in the line of fire for any fallout that came from the Power Station. News articles of the 1950s recount that fallout decorated Penrith like snow when the winds were not on the people’s side. It would find its way into nooks and crannies in businesses, coat clothing in grit and dirty any food produce that was sold in the open, so much so that stock had to be thrown out on the regular. These tales are numerous, and the complaints certainly justified but they were always caveated by the fact that without suffering from the occasional bit of coal fallout, Penrith and surrounding suburbs would not have the quality of life it now got to enjoy by having a stable supply of electricity.

By the 1960s, Penrith Power Station became less frequently used as a sub-station was constructed (and still remains in the same place today, just a few hundred meters away from the Museum of Fire!). Further to this, the area of Penrith also utilised hydroelectricity from Warragamba Dam. As the hydroelectricity plant at Warragamba Dam was run by the same gentleman that also was in charge of Penrith Power Station, it meant that it was only ever needed to be brought online when the area desperately needed power. As a result, Penrith Power Station slowly declined until 1970 when it was officially decommissioned from service.

Whilst this building would sit vacant for approximately 15 years, it’s great that its story get to live on, and its history gets to be preserved. The privilege of being a museum in this building means that we not only get to look after the history of firefighting, but we also get to look after a key piece of history that forms part of Penrith’s local identity. From being a significant milestone in engineering and architecture, to solving the electricity crises to also being a nuisance to the public, this building has represented many emotions and holds many stories to the Penrith area.  

Museum of Fire, 2022 [Museum of Fire Collection]

-Story by Ben Dickson, Curator of the Museum of Fire