Surfing Heritage Fd., New Location | Other

Surfing Heritage Fd., New Location

Thursday, 26 March 2009

Surfing Heritage Foundation, Deciding on New Location

Surfing Heritage Foundation and City of Dana Point have been receiving input on whether to approve the new proposed location at Sea Terrace Park

As previously reported, the City of Dana Point has been holding town hall meetings regarding the proposed Sea Terrace Park location for the future home of the Surfing Heritage Foundation.

After two years of meetings with local residents and city staff to help form an acceptable plan and several city council meetings later, the city formed a Surfing Heritage Museum Task Force to examine the matter and clear up public misconceptions regarding the proposed site. The Task Force, which held several workshop meetings, is concluding its work by holding Town Hall meetings to present their findings, and was hoping to hear additional comments from a broader spectrum of city residents and the public.

The last Town Hall meeting was held on March 11, at the Ocean Institute and it was attended by approximately 50 people, all demonstrating or speaking against the proposed Sea Terrace Park museum location. Interestingly, all were residents living next door to the proposed park, most from Niguel Shores. We had worked hard to incorporate their previous concerns and did modify the proposed plans in hope of gaining their approval. Yet the harder we worked, the more it became clear that the nearby neighborhood community associations simply didn't want anything built and had pushed hard to mobilize their folks in opposition. So far it appears the vocal minority are the only people showing up and they are winning the war of words over the silent majority who we believe support the location. "It's been the same people at each and every meeting speaking in opposition," says Tom Pezman Surfing Heritage Executive Director. "We had truly hoped to receive input from a much broader sampling of the Dana Point community, all of whom are stakeholders in the outcome."

The final Town Hall meeting was held Wednesday, March 25 at 6 PM in the Dana Point Community Center, located at 34052 Del Obispo Street, just north of PCH. The decision will likely be formally announced in the coming days.