Long spring-clean leaves museum shining for Apec

No stone is being left uncleaned in the ongoing campaign to spruce up Auckland for Apec - as Matt Symons, of Light Rock Conservation, knows only too well.

Mr Symons has been replacing crumbling concrete and cleaning the 70-year-old cenotaph in front of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which will host world leaders attending Apec in two weeks.

Light Rock owner Chris Allen says the company was asked to restore the ceno-taph in time for Apec, after spending 10 months cleaning the exterior of the museum.

The job involves killing lichens and algae with biocide, washing the stone down with a low-pressure hose, cutting and replacing crumbling concrete, and restoring and protecting the bronze finishing.

The cenotaph, which is the museum's memorial to those who died in foreign wars, becomes a focal point on April 25 each year when Aucklanders lay wreaths around it to commemorate Anzac Day.