Post by pearldiver on Jul 10, 2008 2:23:15 GMT -8
Well, the time is finally here. The Jim Lockwood Scuba Museum will be having the Grand Opening on October 4, 2008. Guest Speaker will be Sir Robert Marx, underwater archaeologist, shipwreck hunter and treasure hunter. The cost is $25.00 and dinner will be provided. (Tax deductable) Come and share a great adventure. If you would like anymore information, please pm me.
January 8, 2008 Newspaper article::
Dan Johnson dove into the history of scuba diving and came back up with many nearly lost treasures.
He has a 68-year-old “rebreather” scuba device developed by Rockford’s own James Lockwood.
He has remnants of two century-old shipwrecks from Lake Michigan.
He even has a two-person submarine used in the 1965 James Bond movie “Thunderball” (without the spear guns, though).
All those items and more can be seen at his new Lockwood Pioneer Scuba Diving Museum, 7307 N. Alpine Road Loves Park, IL , which opens with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. today.
“The key is to educate the general public about the evolution of diving, where we came from and how we need to save our waterways and quit polluting,” said Johnson, owner of Loves Park Scuba & Snorkel next door.
The museum will be free to the public, and open whenever the scuba store is open. A grand opening will be scheduled in May, but visitors can come before then.
The museum is named in honor of Lockwood, a former Rockford resident who built scuba equipment here starting in the late 1930s. Lockwood founded Lockwood Oil Co. service stations in Rockford, but sold the company to pursue diving. He died in 2003 at age 92. Lockwood Park in northwest Rockford is named for him because of his gifts to the Rockford Park District.
Most of the cost of the museum is funded by the Lockwood estate, with Johnson paying the rest.
Lockwood’s work is significant because he developed his first scuba device — a “rebreather” that recovers exhaled air and makes it suitable for reuse — five years before Jacques Cousteau and Émile Gagnan developed their more famous “aqualung” scuba system. Most modern commercial scuba equipment is based on the aqualung system, which sends gas from the tank to the diver and then out to the water.
One reason Lockwood’s design didn’t catch on commercially, Johnson said, was because he was drafted during World War II. He then showed the U.S. Navy his designs, was given a workshop and developed diving equipment strictly for military use. An original blueprint from 1942 explicitly said one of Lockwood’s designs couldn’t be used for commercial purposes.
But Lockwood had even wider influence, said Kent Rockwell, editor of Historical Diver magazine, an international publication based in California.
Lockwood developed underwater casing for motion-picture cameras, said Rockwell, and helped with the underwater filming of early Tarzan movies. He also consulted on the 1954 film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Lockwood became friends with well-known diver Max G. Nohl, who set a record in 1937 for deepest dive made in a diving suit. Lockwood and Nohl worked on numerous projects, including exploring shipwrecks, Johnson said.
“Jim was one of our forefathers of diving,” Johnson said. “He helped bring diving into the civilian world.”
Johnson plans to have regular speakers and events at the museum. He’ll also open it up for children’s birthday parties and scout troops. The scuba store includes a pool where children can take their first scuba experience.
Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.
If you go
What: Lockwood Pioneer Scuba Diving Museum
Where: 7307 N. Alpine Road Loves Park, IL 61111 phone: 815-633-6969
January 8, 2008 Newspaper article::
Dan Johnson dove into the history of scuba diving and came back up with many nearly lost treasures.
He has a 68-year-old “rebreather” scuba device developed by Rockford’s own James Lockwood.
He has remnants of two century-old shipwrecks from Lake Michigan.
He even has a two-person submarine used in the 1965 James Bond movie “Thunderball” (without the spear guns, though).
All those items and more can be seen at his new Lockwood Pioneer Scuba Diving Museum, 7307 N. Alpine Road Loves Park, IL , which opens with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. today.
“The key is to educate the general public about the evolution of diving, where we came from and how we need to save our waterways and quit polluting,” said Johnson, owner of Loves Park Scuba & Snorkel next door.
The museum will be free to the public, and open whenever the scuba store is open. A grand opening will be scheduled in May, but visitors can come before then.
The museum is named in honor of Lockwood, a former Rockford resident who built scuba equipment here starting in the late 1930s. Lockwood founded Lockwood Oil Co. service stations in Rockford, but sold the company to pursue diving. He died in 2003 at age 92. Lockwood Park in northwest Rockford is named for him because of his gifts to the Rockford Park District.
Most of the cost of the museum is funded by the Lockwood estate, with Johnson paying the rest.
Lockwood’s work is significant because he developed his first scuba device — a “rebreather” that recovers exhaled air and makes it suitable for reuse — five years before Jacques Cousteau and Émile Gagnan developed their more famous “aqualung” scuba system. Most modern commercial scuba equipment is based on the aqualung system, which sends gas from the tank to the diver and then out to the water.
One reason Lockwood’s design didn’t catch on commercially, Johnson said, was because he was drafted during World War II. He then showed the U.S. Navy his designs, was given a workshop and developed diving equipment strictly for military use. An original blueprint from 1942 explicitly said one of Lockwood’s designs couldn’t be used for commercial purposes.
But Lockwood had even wider influence, said Kent Rockwell, editor of Historical Diver magazine, an international publication based in California.
Lockwood developed underwater casing for motion-picture cameras, said Rockwell, and helped with the underwater filming of early Tarzan movies. He also consulted on the 1954 film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Lockwood became friends with well-known diver Max G. Nohl, who set a record in 1937 for deepest dive made in a diving suit. Lockwood and Nohl worked on numerous projects, including exploring shipwrecks, Johnson said.
“Jim was one of our forefathers of diving,” Johnson said. “He helped bring diving into the civilian world.”
Johnson plans to have regular speakers and events at the museum. He’ll also open it up for children’s birthday parties and scout troops. The scuba store includes a pool where children can take their first scuba experience.
Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.
If you go
What: Lockwood Pioneer Scuba Diving Museum
Where: 7307 N. Alpine Road Loves Park, IL 61111 phone: 815-633-6969
