The Coogee Life Saving Club has been almost destoryed. Photo: Facebook
Back in the early 1900s, a group of Australians got together to protect people from the ocean. At the time, they didn’t know they were creating something that would eventually be an historic part of Australia’s surf history: the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club. But massive waves have all but destroyed the 106-year-old clubhouse.
The first clubhouse for the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club was a simple wooden shack built in 1910. At the time, the volunteers did patrols on weekends. From those humble beginnings, the club became one of the most important parts of Australia’s life saving community. Over the years, they were involved in “the first mass rescue, night surf carnival, shark attack and the development of the resuscitation technique,” according to the website.
The huge waves that battered Australia’s eastern coastline ripped apart the clubhouse that has perched looking over the sea for over a hundred years. Waves up to 15 feet smashed through the walls, breaking windows and bending metal. The concern now is that the unusually high king tides will deal the final blow.
The Coogee Surf Life Saving Club in 2004. Image: Wikimedia Commons
Right now, engineers have been involved in efforts to stabilize the roof, but the NSW Fire and Rescue crews aren’t hopeful. “The club house’s structural integrity is being investigated,” said Councillor Brendan Roberts, “and with another king tide due at 9pm with the swell still massive, the next 24 hours could be critical.”
The president of the club, though, says that although they may be down, they’re not out just yet. “We’ve had significant damage in our boat shed, we’ve lost almost all our lifesaving gear, but more dramatically we’ve had significant damage to the surf club,” said Mark Doepel. “We’ve lost the greater part of our eastern wall and we are under significant challenge as a club. We are very much up for this challenge, we are very threatened in relation to our ability to offer surf lifesaving to the community but this is one of the oldest clubs in Australia.”
Local residents haven’t seen anything like the power of this storm. Alan Lloyd, a long time resident and part of the historical society, has never seen damage as bad as this. ‘The old Coogee pier foundations have been exposed,” he said. “There’s devastation along the handrails and I’ve never seen rocks exposed on the beach there before.
