Community volunteers spent the weekend retrieving pieces of gantry from the ocean floor.
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The bits have been sitting there since the East Coast low hit earlier in June and destroyed the historic platform.
A manitou and flat bed truck donated by a community member were used for the retrieval and volunteers jumped in the wintery waters to drive down and grab the pieces one by one.
They managed to get all the pieces that had not been washed up already.
In addition to finding all the bits of the gantry, a winch, cog and an anchor were also retrieved and will be used as part of the community project to recreate the gantry.
It is not clear where these items have come from or how long they have been down there.
Progress has been made with the resurrection plans and the Gantry Committee are working hard to coordinate their efforts with the council and Bawley Point community.
After a meeting with Council last week, committee chair, Liza Butler says council will support them in their gantry resurrection efforts.
A structural engineer will draw up plans as early as this week and a costing will be completed in the weeks to follow.
Once a costing has been made, funding can be confirmed.
Stage one of the resurrection was always to retrieve the pieces and with this done, the committee and community will be able to make more progress.
The pieces will be restored by the Kioloa and Bawley Point Men’s Shed and the current line of thinking is to turn the main gantry platform into a bench near the new gantry site.
There have also been suggestions about creating a heritage walk around the area to showcase the rich history of Bawley Point.
The Timber Mill at Bawley Point was one of the biggest in the district and was instrumental in the establishment of the town.
A walk would be a way to show off that history and showcase some of the relics from those times when it was a community based around the sawmill.
“Bits of the gantry may be incorporated into the walk,” Liza said.
“That will be a community project for the future.”
She said the support from the community had been overwhelming and the Facebook page had attracted more than 3,800 views since the weekend’s retrieval update was posted.
Visit the the Resurrect Bawley Point Gantry Facebook page for more information and to follow the committee updates.
