A PORTLAND icon will have its story preserved for the future after receiving national funding – and which will see it reach a potentially much larger audience.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has awarded Glenelg Shire Council $9600 to engage an interpretive consultant and photographer to develop a suite of education resources highlighting the Portland lifeboat and Admella shipwreck.

It follows the lifeboat – built in the 1850s, arriving in the settlement it was named after in 1857 and which was used to rescue 19 survivors from the Admella two years later – being listed in February this year on the Victorian Heritage Register as an item of cultural significance.

As the Observer reported then, it was a near-miracle the lifeboat was still in existence given the travails it went through over the years,

These days it is on permanent display at the Maritime Discovery Centre.

Now the museum grant will enable a digital exhibition, and local photographer Damian Goodman is busy putting it together.

“It’s good fun,” he said.

“It’s a good way to display it and it’s about the item as opposed to the museum.”

Glenelg Shire Cultural Collection coordinator Agostina Hawkins said Mr Goodman had already put together a 360-degree prototype of what the lifeboat might look like.

“You can spin it around and this will give people the opportunity to look down in to what is a very big boat and hard to look into (in real life),” she said.

“You can click on bits of it and information will pop up.”

 The lifeboat was the “hero” piece of the exhibition and would be joined by other items such as medals and certificates awarded in the aftermath of the shipwreck rescue.

There were also 16 linocuts created by local craftsman Bob Stone.

“It means that people from right across the world will be able to experience it,” Ms Hawkins said.

“But ultimately the goal is to get them in here (MDC).”

And there’s another equally-ambitious goal – to use the display in the school curriculum.

Ms Hawkins said she had worked on several other projects where she had feedback on their value for learning – someone struggling to learn maths, for example, in the traditional way found it easier with a visual or tactile experience.

“I’m hoping we can do that and show the community all the different ways they can use it,” she said.

“This is their Collection.”

“The suite of education resources we will build with this funding will support schools as well as home learners.

“The content will suit the Victorian Curriculum across many areas – subjects you might expect but also those you wouldn’t.

“Design, technology, engineering and maths can all be explored through the Portland lifeboat as well, of course, as history and art.

“We will digitise photographs, artefacts and firsthand accounts to bring the story to life in a new, long-lasting way.

“Ultimately it will allow teachers and home schoolers to access the collections online and then visit the museum to experience the lifeboat in real life.”

Mayor Scott Martin said: “The (grant) is a fantastic initiative, and Glenelg Shire welcomes this national funding to support development in our community.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to celebrate the internationally significant Portland lifeboat and to begin to use the Glenelg Shire Cultural Collection in new and innovative ways,” he said.

The Australian National Maritime Museum, based in Sydney, is the national centre for maritime collections, exhibitions, research and archaeology.

Director and chief executive Daryl Karp said: “Our unique identity as an island nation is shaped by our seas and waterways, and the stories, objects and artefacts that make up our maritime heritage.”

“This legacy is preserved by the passion of those whose efforts are poured into projects and works across a national network of museums, organisations and communities throughout Australia – including in regional and remote areas,” she said.

“It is through the vital efforts of this network that our national maritime heritage is shaped and preserved for future generations.”