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The dying wish of Bluff's paua shell house owner Fred Flutey is about to be shattered, with his prized collection set to be dismantled and sent north.
It took Mr Flutey and his wife, Myrtle, a lifetime to build the iconic collection and their daughter, Gloria Henderson, said the couple wanted the collection to stay in Bluff.
Mr Flutey died in 2002 and Mrs Flutey in 2000.
"Dad said so on his death bed," Mrs Henderson told the Southland Times.
But the Fluteys' grandson, Ross Bowen, who bought the house and collection off from the rest of the family, has decided to give it to a museum on extended loan.
He had talked to three museums, and it appeared Christchurch's Canterbury Museum had the nod.
Bluff Maritime Museum manager and Bluff Community Board chairman Rex Powley said locals were upset because the paua house had paid a "very significant part" in Bluff over many, many years.
"The fame of the house, and Fred and Myrtle, have been known worldwide," he told National Radio.
"It has always been a major tourist attraction."
Mr Powley said Mr Bowen maintained Canterbury was a suitable home for the collection as that was where that Mr Flutey was originally from.
"Well Fred came south when he was 14 years of age. He spent over 80 years down here, in Southland, and the collection was built up during that time by him and his wife, Myrtle," he said.
Mr Powley had spoken and written to Mr Bowen, asking him to reconsider. Invercargill City Council had also contacted him.
Mr Bowen did not want to comment but Mr Powley said he understood there was still hope.
"The museum is prepared to either take the collection locally on loan or we'd buy it outright, and we'd have written into the contract a provision that the collection had to stay in Bluff for all time, and it would belong to the community," he said.
- NZPA
