On certain nights, Launceston will be visible from Greens Beach and Deloraine after a new monument is finished.
The memorial honours the Polish pioneers who settled in Launceston after World War II, many of whom worked on hydro electric schemes across Tasmania.
Based in Kings Park, the eight-column monument also commemorates the active role Polish immigrants have played in helping to build Launceston and contributing to the Northern Tasmanian economy.
"It will be able to explain to future generations what it meant to be Polish growing up and try to keep that memory alive." Architect Michael Bernacki
The project is funded by the Polish Pioneers Foundation following the sale of the Dom Polski (Polish House) five years ago.
Honed Architecture and Design architect Michael Bernacki, who is a descendant of a Polish pioneer, said the monument would serve as an educational area and art site with informative plaques and large vertical lights.
He designed the monument to divide the path, inviting the community to engage with the site, and create symmetry on the edge of the Tamar River.
Each column has a vertical light which will project half a kilometre in height, Mr Bernacki said.
Community members would be able to apply to the City of Launceston to turn the lights on as they could change colour of the lights to mark events, he said.
He anticipated they would be visible from Deloraine and Greens Beach, although they would be turned off by midnight on the few nights year they were used, Mr Bernacki said.
“We have to register with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.”
Within a couple of months, the monument will be finished after extensive discussions with the Launceston Flood Authority and City of Launceston.
“It will be able to explain to future generations what it meant to be Polish growing up and try to keep that memory alive,” Mr Bernacki said.
The monument paid tribute to many other cultures who “helped to build the city”, he said.
Continental Builders, who were working on the memorial, are direct descendants to Polish pioneers.
Only a “handful” of the original pioneers were alive, which made sharing their rich history important, he said.
