A 4.5 metre kookaburra will be erected in Rotary Park before the end of 2009 to mark Hydro Aluminium's 40th anniversary.

The big kookaburra will join the list of other things all "big" across the country including the big pineapple, banana, prawn, guitar, bull, koala and potato just to name a few.

The combined Hydro Aluminium and Kurri Kurri Tidy Towns project was the brainchild of Towns With Heart deputy chairman Ken Warren.

"The kookaburra is used as a logo for several Kurri Kurri sporting and community organisations and the idea really evolved from there," Kurri Kurri Tidy Towns representative Pam Way said.

The sculpture, being built by Pokolbin artist Chris Fussell, was initially planned for a site in Lang Street.

"That site was thought to be a traffic hazard and the plan was to move it to Rotary Park [bounded by Lang and Barton streets]," Mrs Way said.

"Hydro is celebrating 40 years in 2009 and we approached them to see if they would fund the project, which they have to the tune of $15,000.

"They thought it was a great idea and wanted to give something to the people of Kurri Kurri."

Mr Fussell is making the kookaburra from aluminium and steel scrap found at scrap yards around the region.

He has started work on the sculpture, which is expected to be unveiled at the end of 2009.

"We hope it will become a landmark for the town and a major tourist attraction," Mrs Way said.

"It will certainly enhance the town's mural project."