Formed in 1926 by founding members including Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir James Mitchell and Edith Cowan, the society bought its base at 49 Broadway, Nedlands in 1964.
Some dolls, like those pictured, are more than 90 years old and while some are on display, others have to be stored because of a lack of space.
There is also not enough exhibition space and the Society’s 770 members want to introduce technology into its displays.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWRWAHS council vice-president Lennie McCall said they had been planning the fundraising campaign for the past four years.
“We’ve been in this building since the 1960s and we own it, so we’re on a valuable block, but there’s insufficient space for us to host exhibits and display and research WA history,” Ms McCall said.
“Many objects people have donated to us, we can’t display.”
The society has engaged architects and a planner and engineer pro bono to design and complete a feasibility study on a new building.
The City of Nedlands current Town Planning Scheme No. 2 allows for three storeys on the site, but a proposed TPS3, which is out for public consultation, could allow a few more storeys.
The RWAHS recently received a Lotterywest grant of $170,000 to fund a new website that would make the collections available to view online and it has State Government funding for 1.6 staff until December.
n There will be a Christmas in July Lunch to raise money for the Community History Centre Project on Friday, July 1 at Rendezvous Hotel, Scarborough. Tickets for the three-course lunch are $70. Call Di Watts on 0418 904 557 or Jan Pettorino on 9446 7296.