The crane dominating the skyline of Invercargill’s CBD now has a name – Lofty the Yellow Lifter. 

Invercargill youngsters were given the chance to stamp their mark on the crane with a joint “Name the Crane” competition run by ILT and Leighs Construction. The funky new moniker is the creation of Newfield Park student Harley Coutts. 

ILT board chair Alan Dennis and Leighs Construction site manager Phil Pasco were tasked with the challenging job of trawling through numerous entries to select the winner. 

“We were very impressed by the calibre of entries and the creativity shown by all the students who entered. There was plenty of healthy debate throughout the process and it was tough to choose a winner,” Mr Dennis said. 

“Harley’s entry did a fantastic job of really reflecting the presence the crane has on the site by incorporating ‘lofty’ so our congratulations to him.”  

The towering machinery, which measures 43m at its highest point and can lift up to 12 tonnes, was installed onsite in February to enable construction of The Langlands hotel. It is expected to remain for the next 12 months. 

“The crane has certainly become a focal point of the construction process to date and it’s exciting to see progress.”  

Lofty the Yellow Lifter will now appear on the crane’s cab while Harley will have the kudos of his own name featuring on site fencing at the inner-city location. 

He also receives an iPad (sponsored by Leighs Construction) along with afternoon tea for his whole class at ILT’s newly reopened family restaurant The Homestead, and $2000 for Newfield Park to spend on technology (sponsored by ILT).