The $500,000 project to restore the 148-year-old monument to Captain William Cargill, the first superintendent of Otago, was started in 2010 with the development of a conservation plan, after urgent stabilisation work was required in 2009.
Jeremy Shearer, of CPG, the consultancy managing the project for the Dunedin City Council, said the monument was originally expected to be restored and reassembled later this year, but the finish date had been extended to May after an issue with sourcing the sandstone for the ornamental restoration work.
The stone required was identified as having come from a now-closed Tasmanian quarry and it had taken some time to have it reopened to acquire the stone.
The material had arrived in Dunedin earlier this year, and Dunedin stonemason Marcus Wainwright had been working on the intricate details of the monument during the past four months. Twenty-seven parts of the monument, including gargoyles, finials and crockets, needed to be replaced.
Early next year, strengthening work on the main part of the structure, including drilling for insertion of stainless steel rods, plates and anchors, would be undertaken. The top part of the monument would be reassembled from next March.
The work was being carried out in conjunction with the Historic Places Trust, Mr Shearer said.
At this stage, it appeared the project would come in under budget, but the final figure would depend on the structural work required in the strengthening of the monument.
