$30,000 funding goal reached to help save Kingston’s famous lobster Larry

LARRY, the famous big fibreglass lobster at Kingston, looks set to be saved after South Australians raised $30,000 for his “plastic surgery”.

Larry, the Big Lobster along with restaurant, cafe and tourist shop in southeastern coastal town of Kingston, that is up for sale with agent hoping will sell for over $500,000.

SOUTH Australians have shown themselves to be totally un-shellfish, throwing their support behind a crowdfunding campaign to save Kingston’s famous lobster Larry which has been at risk of becoming bisque.

The 17m fibreglass sculpture has been given a reprieve, following after a seven-month crowdfunding drive to raise money for urgent repairs.

The GoFundMe campaign was started by Larry’s owner, Frances Curkpatrick, from the Humbugz Honey restaurant, after she went public on the “dangerous and dilapidated” state of the iconic sculpture last September.

Ms Curkpatrick said Larry was facing demolition without tens of thousands of dollars for urgent repairs.

Opened in 1979, the 17m-high red coloured spiny crustacean today has a partially detached leg that swings in the wind.

An engineer’s report has found Larry needs to be substantially rebuilt including a new outer skin, structural repairs and new concrete foot columns.

“He’s very badly deteriorated,” Ms Curpatrick said last year.

“He’s getting to the danger stage. If he doesn’t get the work done, he has to come down and I don’t want to do that. The people ... love Larry.”

The crowdfunding campaign aimed to raise $30,000 for the work and Thursday supporters were told by email that the goal had been reached.

The crowdfunding campaign garnered national attention and support from high-profile supporters, including radio announcers Hamish & Andy.

A month ago, the Piping Shrike, a new marketing mascot for BankSA, tipped more than $9000 into the campaign.
It followed a $10,000 contribution from the State Government last November.

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“This is just a small contribution but hopefully it can go towards saving Larry from the lobster pot,’’ Premier Weatherill said at the time.

“In all seriousness, we think tourism will be a key part of the South East’s future and this is a unique reason to stop at Kingston,” Mr Weatherill said.

Yesterday, campaign organisers thanked the community for its “amazing generosity”.

“No matter the amount you gave we’re extremely grateful, those $5 amounts were very touching to receive as we know many of them were kids,” a message on the campaign page read.

An update on the next steps in the project would be forthcoming soon, they said.

The total cost of the repairs may come in substantially higher than the $30,000 raised - so the heat may still be on Larry for a while.

The Kingston District Council said it was also willing to help pay for Larry’s repairs but wanted him moved to the nearby foreshore so he would benefit the whole community. - with AAP

Four of SA’s big, bold landmarks

The Big Rocking Horse at Gumeracha.

The Big Galah at Kimba.

Big Galah

Located in Kimba, 464km, northwest of Adelaide, which markets itself as situated at the “halfway’ point across Australia. Made of steel, high tension bird wire, fibreglass and gel coated, it measures 8m high by 2.5 metres wide and weighs more than two tonnes. It was built in 1993 by Roger Venning.

Big Rocking Horse

Located at Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills, 37km east of the city, it was designed by David McIntosh, the structure weighs 25 tonnes and is 18.3m high. The $100,000 structure, which opened in 1983, is claimed to be the world’s biggest Rocking Horse and was once used as a CFS lookout.

The Big Cockroach at Dublin.

The Big Orange at Berri.

Big Orange

The 16m structure, on the Sturt Highway, near Berri, has been fenced off to the public for more than a decade. Owner Frank Vallelonga unveiled plans to transform the 2ha block into an entertainment precinct in February 2012. But he abandoned the plans six months later after the State Government’s Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund rejected an application to cover half of the $1.4m cost.

Big Cockroach

The large insect, located on Port Wakefield Rd at Dublin, 65km north of Adelaide, was erected with a tin man and other sculptures by locals in the late 1990s in protest against the former Liberal government’s plans to build a waste dump in the area. The cockroach, measuring about four metres long and almost as wide, is at the centre of a new Opposition campaign to keep the Repat open.