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Scott's working shaping bay inside the museum.
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Insatiable Development Destroys Surfing’s History
What began with a few workmen and the irritating drone of heavy machinery has expanded into an all-consuming monster, devouring countryside, ecosystem and now a world-renowned surfing landmark.
Scott Dillon’s Legends Surf Museum has hosted tens of thousands of visiting surfers and tourists from across the globe in its 12-odd years of business, educating them through a painstakingly compiled collection of surf memorabilia.
Over a decade ago, after the sad passing of his beloved wife, Scott Dillon devoted himself entirely to his other mistress: surfing. Through his entire life, an inseparable connection has existed between Dillon, the ocean and surfing. One of the founding fathers of modern surfing in Australia, Dillon helped pioneer surfboard blank manufacture and the use of foam and fibreglass. He was the go-to man in Australia for big-wave gun boards, having visited Hawaii many times and developed close connections with the likes of Rabbit Kekai, Donald Takayama and the Keaulana clan.
Dillon was among the first to charge Sydney’s Fairy Bower when monstrous swells pounded the Australian coastline, leaving all but a handful quaking on the clifftops at the power of nature.
The Legends Surf Museum has stood as tribute to his history and that of the sport on the outskirts of Coffs Harbour, winning renown and awards for its part in maintaining surfing’s history and artefacts. It is unquestionable that Scott Dillon has single-handedly provided an unparalleled service to the sport and community that has shaped his entire life.
But now, with the ever-growing expansion of the Pacific Highway, Dillon’s hard work has come to nought.
“’F***’ I thought, ‘these guys are going to end me’” reflects Dillon of the moment when the steady encroachment of the construction began several years ago. “Immediately, I went from having busloads of tourists turning up every single day to maybe five or ten visitors a week.”
He thought this was the end, his raison d’être facing its demise in the face of commerce. But last month the now 84-year-old’s life took another staggering blow.
“There was a knock on the door and these two guys were standing there at my door handing me my [road] signs. ‘What are these for?’ I asked. ‘We’re shutting you down’ they replied.”
And so it has become that Dillon’s collection, comprising almost 100 historical and contemporary boards, numerous unique artefacts, photographs, news clippings and a myriad of surfing memorabilia was without a home.
The loophole with which the developers were hoping to hang the future of the museum was in the establishment’s fire regulation requirements. So, in order to keep his museum alive and despite his receiving almost no visitors at all, Dillon was hamstrung into outlaying over a thousand dollars in emergency lighting and signage.
The future of the museum appears to be growing bleaker by the day. Facing a forced retirement on minimal pension, Dillon is offered little other option than to graciously accept his fate, but for his child, that astounding compilation of surfing’s history, what comes next is uncertain.
Without any means of storage and no reprieve from the onslaught of red tape and commerce, Dillon can no longer house his museum’s contents and he is faced with the inordinate task of relocating, selling and, heartbreakingly, dismantling his collection built over decades.
“A few people have come to me,” he says, “offering to buy this board or that board, but I can’t accept their offers. The collection needs to stay together. I can’t let it be broken – it’s a part of history.”
Dillon has made enquiries with the Coffs City Council who, despite the potential tourist attraction, the income it equates to and the value of the collection, seem reluctant to offer a solution.
Dillon is now searching for an eleventh-hour saviour, a new owner, respectful of the value of the museum and its contents, not in a financial sense, but in its value to the history of surfing, in Australia and globally.
All enquiries should be directed to Scott Dillon care of: dafin@tpg.com.au
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