Larry the big Kingston lobster may be torn down

SOUTH AUSTRALIA’s dangerous and dilapidated Big Lobster will have to be torn down unless his owners can raise tens of thousands of dollars for repairs.

SA'S GIANT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

FOR almost four decades, he has been one of the state’s biggest tourist attractions – in every sense of the word.

But Larry, the Big Lobster, is facing an uncertain future amid fears the South-East-based landmark could close after falling into disrepair.

Today, it emerged the “dangerous and dilapidated” stucture, located in Kingston, almost 300km from Adelaide, faces demolition unless his owners can raise tens of thousands of dollars for urgent works.

Opened in 1979, the 17-metre high red coloured spiny crustacean today has a partially detached leg that swings in the wind, said co-owner Frances Curkpatrick.

“He’s very badly deteriorated,” she said.

“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.”

Despite his status, there is no funding maintenance available because Larry is located on private property.

An online campaign aims to raise $30,000 for repairs she hopes to start by Christmas.

By tonight, almost $1000 had been raised.

“Larry has . . . endured harsh weather conditions and many people crawling over him to the point where he has become a safety hazard and a not so attractive attraction,” the charity page states.

“In order for Larry to stay where he is and continue showing off on the highway at the entrance to the town of Kingston he desperately needs some restoritive work done on him.

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“Unfortunately for everyone,maintaining him is not free nor is the cost of maintaining bathrooms for visitors. Larry needs your help. Please.”

Mrs Curkpatrick added of the four tonne structure: “People come down this way to see him and it’s really embarrassing because he’s in a really bad condition.”

Larry is made of fiberglass and steel and is located on the grounds of the Humbugz Honey restaurant, which Mrs Curkpatrick operates and serves fresh lobster.

* If you wish to donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/8jbzdfrg

OUR BIG, BOLD AND BRASH LANDMARKS

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.

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.