13. Line of Lode Miners’ Memorial and Visitors Centre
The Miners’ Memorial and Visitors’ Centre were completed in December 2000. In 2001 it won the Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design, awarded by the Royal Australian Institute
of Architects. This is the most prestigious award in Australia for an Urban Design project.
The architects, Chris Landorf (Grand daughter of former Broken Hill Mine Manager Pittman Hooper) and David Manfredi, designed a symbolic and spiritual representation of the tragic deaths from mining accidents of more than 800 miners, whose names are all recorded on the walls of the memorial.
A memorial service for fallen miners is now held annually at the Miners’ Memorial: a day of remembrance that coincides, as closely as possible, with the anniversary of the deaths of Leopold Campbell and Thomas Jordan, who died on the Central Mine in 1902.
The site of the Memorial and Visitor’s Centre, on the edge of the tailings on top of the line of lode, is also a dramatic lookout, sitting 54 metres, with an excellent view over the city to the northwest.
Audio transcript available.