Does phone box ring any bells?

KATINA CURTIS

DO you remember where an old red double-booth phone box lived in Kiama's CBD?

Vintage phone box restorer Justin O'Connor is calling on the people of Kiama to help work out the location of the box in the early part of last century.

"I've spoken to a few people who might know where it came from," he said.

"The best lead we've had so far is that it was on Manning Street, maybe in front of the old telephone exchange."

Mr O'Connor said this particular phone box probably serviced Kiama for about 30 years and was removed in the 1940s or 50s.

"This model is really rare. There's probably only five left in Australia.

"Because they're so heavy they just pulled most of them apart."

When he finds out where the box was located, he can finish restoring it with the original type of telephones and then look for a home for it.

"I would like to see this one go back to Kiama instead of sending it somewhere else in Australia," he said.

Mr O'Connor has been in touch with Kiama Historical Society and the council about the possibility of finding it at least a temporary home, but said the difficulty was that it really needed to be put somewhere inside or at least sheltered to stay in good condition.

He said he got interested in different types of public telephone boxes as a child because his dad worked with pay phones. He got his first box when he was 15 and his Sanctuary Point house and garage are now full with the boxes, antique phones and parts.

"They're just a part of our history," he said.

"The sad thing is that everyone liked them and Telstra's getting rid of even the regular payphones now."

He had restored one from Minnamurra and was on the lookout for a box he remembered being at Bombo train station, but had not yet seen for sale.

"A lot of people have just paid $50 for them, a case of beer sort of thing, so they just let them rot; they don't realise the value of them," he said.

Anyone with information about the Kiama double phone box can get in touch with Mr O'Connor through his website " www.redtelephonebox.net " or contact the Kiama Independent.