Page 98 - Volume 1

With the construction of this coffer dam by Downer & Co, Kimihia School and the community was
about to lose its swimming hole. The popular site is just off picture to the left where “The Point” was situat-
ed. Both the Point and the Island were focal points for bathers and picnickers on summer days. The beach
and other areas along the shoreline were covered with coal slack that had worked it way around the lake
from the original underground mine situated in the right background. The dam allowed for the removal of
overburden via dredging so that the 10 meter thick coal seam could be mined.

Watercolour painting of Lake Kimihia

by Neil Holland in March 1942