Timaru’s new beacon of fun has finally found its place atop the CPlay playground.
Caroline Bay was all action on Tuesday morning as large cranes hoisted the 1877 Blackett’s Lighthouse-based play piece into its new home.
The lighthouse sits above the bespoke shipwreck and features lighthouse panels designed by graphic artist and CPlay volunteer Roselyn Fauth.
They were inspired by lighthouse implements and notable engineer John Blackett’s lighthouse plans.
Mrs Fauth said she felt quite emotional seeing it being placed.
‘‘I know what the community had to do to get to this point.
‘‘It was a massive fundraising effort over four years.’’
The lighthouse is one of the big nods the playground makes to the region’s maritime history.
Mrs Fauth believed it was one of the most important pieces.
‘‘Getting this on the ground today, I think it’s going to be this icon for the playground and hopefully will be for many many years to come.’’
The lighthouse will have good views of Caroline Bay and feature 5m and 7m slides.
‘‘Kids love height, they love the challenge of climbing and the speed of sliding, and this particular piece of play equipment will deliver that.’’
Mrs Fauth said collaboration between the community and the creators of the piece was special.
‘‘As a partnership between community volunteers and the professionals at the Playground Centre, we are delivering something totally unique, something fun and really iconic for our families and visitors.’’
She said they were still on plan to open by Christmas.
‘‘It’s all going to come down to sequencing and making sure we’re taking the time to do things properly.’’
Mrs Fauth said there were plans to soft-launch the playground.
‘‘We think it is the most inclusive way of opening, one day we will just quietly take the gates down and people will have some time to play.’’
There is no set date for the soft launch, but the gates will stay down for a couple of weeks before a public celebration is held.
