Austube Mills, formerly Tubemakers of Australia, will today officially donate a time capsule to the City of Newcastle as a keepsake of the business’ contribution to the local steelworks industry since it was built in 1934.
As the pinnacle event of the business’ national 80th anniversary celebrations, Austube Mills will present the time capsule to Deputy Lord Mayor Cr Brad Luke at its Business Birthday BBQ where current and former employees will celebrate with local community groups and local and national customers.
Austube Mills General Manager Richard Clement said the time capsule, to be buried on-site at Mayfield, comprises iconic memories of the business’ heritage and also stories and videos current employees have created about the business.
“The time capsule will freeze in time the journey Austube Mills has taken from being Australia’s first pipe and tube manufacturer 80 years ago to now it’s largest,” Richard said.
“Employees manufactured our one metre galvanized pipe time capsule on site, a very fitting souvenir to protect the special items placed inside for the next 40 years. Items that are sure to educate people in the future on how much the Newcastle steel manufacturing industry changed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
“Copies of our anniversary books, old photos, including the old mills in operation and from when the site made shells for the Second World War, pieces of the evolution of our personal protection equipment, and current business reports, are just some of the items to be interred at our head office location.”
“To represent the present day, we will include winning entries from internal competitions we held to engage employees and their families to tell us stories from their time at Austube Mills and short videos themed ‘Why choose Austube Mills?”
“Austube Mills is very proud of our Newcastle heritage where the majority of our manufacturing innovations were born; the most notable is our DuraGal¬Æ brand which has radically improved the inline galvanizing coating process for steel pipe and tube products since the early 1990s.”
As official recognition of Austube Mills’ contribution to the local steelworks industry, the City of Newcastle invited the business to donate a piece of its innovative DuraGal steel tubular product to sit permanently in the Newcastle Museum’s steelworks collection.
Newcastle Deputy Lord Mayor Brad Luke said the City of Newcastle is pleased to accept the time capsule from Austube Mills.
“Newcastle City Council and many local historians are concerned with the preservation of Newcastle’s industrial heritage,” he said. “This generous gift will remind generations to come of the significant economic impact of Austube Mills as part of Newcastle’s proud steel industry.”
