By NOEL MURPHY
NEVER mind the bollards, punk rocker Johnny Rotten might have sung about Geelong’s bayside landmarks, but deterioration on some is being tackled.
The signature wooden statues, depicting figures from Geelong’s history, face a constant battle against the elements but battle scars are showing.
An example is the battered visage of the Western Beach Sea Bathing Company swimmer – a face that once resembled more closely the dial of former Geelong MP and one-time Defence Minister Gordon Scholes.
More than 100 bollards dot Corio Bay’s foreshore at 48 sites between Limeburner’s Point and Rippleside.
The late Geelong artist Jan Mitchell created the bollards in likenesses including fishermen, footballers, families, Koories and others from local history.
While weather and salt air hit the bollards, so too do vandals who from time to time have set them alight or attacked them with hammers and axes.
City Hall said a $60,000-a-year maintenance program sought to safeguard the integrity of the artworks.
Cr Michelle Heagney said deterioration was to be expected, given the bollards were made from recovered timber up to 130 years old.
The maintenance program involves artists working for the estate of Ms Mitchell running repairs as necessary but some bollards need full replacement, with council trialling a number of new timbers.
City Hall waterfront manager Andrew Ross said turpentine timber of the type used in pier pilings was best but difficult to obtain.
