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Sprucing up Cape Spear: Photos show how work is going

The national historic site at Cape Spear is looking more like a construction zone these days.

Crews are at work at the most easterly point in North America to repair and rehabilitate the bunker complex built there in the Second World War.

"Given the age of the bunkers and the harsh environment there, they actually do need a lot of work," said Bill Brake, field unit superintendent for Parks Canada in eastern Newfoundland.

"Previously, some sections of the cape were closed off to visitors for health and safety reasons."

The work includes digging up the earth around the bunkers, installing proper drainage and supports to stabilize the site, which will then be filled in.

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Work is expected to continue until May 2017.

"We hoped the project would end sooner," he said. "But when you are dealing with cultural assets of that age, you don't necessarily have the 'as built' drawings to go by, so you're finding new materials or damage you didn't expect to see."

By spring, visitors will be able to access the entire bunker complex, Brake told the St. John's Morning Show on Monday.

There will also be new interpretation panels and a modern electrical system installed.

"What [visitors] won't see is areas of dilapidation. What they'll see is a complex that looks close to what it did back in the 50s, and I think what they'll have is a much better experience."

Visitors can walk around Cape Spear in the meantime, but he said the main easterly path is closed. Walkers and hikers can use an alternate route, but they are being told to steer clear of the construction zones.

Parks Canada is spending $3 billion across the country over five years to improve its parks and historic sites.

Meanwhile, upgrades to the Signal Hill National Historic Site in St. John's are on schedule, Brake said, and the upper parking lot which has been closed during that work should reopen by the end of December.

He said the Christmas star will shine on Cabot Tower this year as usual.