This was the culmination of almost a year’s work by a steering committee formed after the possibility of restoring the lighthouse was flagged on radio 2ST’s Three-way Turf Talk program.
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Wednesday’s operation was also a demonstration of how seamlessly the three armed services can work together, involving as it did the navy, air force and army.
At 9.30am, a convoy of vehicles congregated around the historic lantern, which was gingerly disassembled by a team of helpers from Ison & Co, the Department of Lands and the Lake Illawarra Authority.
After removing the base from the upper frame, the team got to work unscrewing and lowering the weathervane from its lofty site.
The two parts were each taken by crane to be secured to the truck, followed by the frame and base.
The truck was quite a sight rumbling through the quiet streets of Culburra Beach with its valuable load.
Due to the size of the truck, the lantern couldn’t be transported through the South Coast Correctional Centre’s main gates, so it was unloaded in an area near the car park, which is where its restoration will take place.
South Coast Correctional Centre general manager David White explained the arrival of the lantern was long awaited.
“Around 12 months ago, we were getting ready for our commissioning and we were looking around for opportunities to engage our community projects work gang.
“The plight of the Crookhaven Lighthouse was being discussed at the time and it was the South Coast Register who suggested we could get people at the jail doing something useful with this lighthouse. And it’s gone from there,” he said.
A team of inmates and community offender services worked on clearing and preparing the grounds around the lighthouse, before the lantern was lifted out by the navy.
“Now several staff and a team of inmates will start to work on what is before us and over time restore it to its former glory.
“Then we’ll have another challenge getting the whole thing back on,” Mr White said.
Work on the lantern is likely to begin early next year after it is decided what needs to be done, and there is no set time frame for its completion.
Around 10 inmates from the centre’s mobile outreach program will use their skills on the project under the leadership of an overseer who is a qualified boilermaker.
Mr White expected the team might need to engage the services of trades that are near defunct – such as tin makers or glaziers and they would be approaching local men’s sheds as required.
