Key West marker restored after Hurricane Irma

KEY WEST, Fla. – Artists have restored one of the most photographed tourism icons in the Florida Keys after it was damaged by Hurricane Irma.

The last brush strokes were placed on the “Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S.A.” marker Monday.

The red, yellow, black and white marker, a massive 4-ton (3.6-metric ton) cement monument that resembles a giant marine navigational buoy, is located beside the Atlantic Ocean. It proclaims that Key West is 90 miles (145 kilometres) from Havana.

Irma pummeled the marker Sept. 10, knocking out a large piece of stucco and stripping much of its paint.

Despite damage to the marker, Key West was not seriously impacted by Hurricane Irma’s passage through the Keys. The region reopened to visitors Oct. 1, although some harder-hit areas of the 125-mile (201-kilometre)island chain continue to recover.