Work began to paint the Peggys Cove lighthouse Thursday. (Submitted by Gayle Hawker)

The sun finally came out in Peggys Cove Thursday — after two weeks of fog and rain — and the scaffolding started going up so painters can give the iconic lighthouse a facelift.

Glen Carvery, who has been in the construction and painting business for more than 20 years, said he has become almost as famous as the Peggys Cove lighthouse as he prepares to paint its flaking facade and repair crumbling concrete.

He said he’s fielded a lot of phone calls and had people asking him about the work that got underway Thursday.

"We're on site today and we're going to erect the scaffolding, and, hopefully, have it approved today and we’ll be on site tomorrow doing repairs," Carvery said.

"We’ve been in business for 21 years and probably this is one of the jobs that seems to draw quite a bit of attention."

Carvery said the job should take about eight days to complete.

Political intervention

The Peggys Cove lighthouse is a world famous landmark at one of Canada's most visited tourist sites.

The attention over the paint job flows from a controversy earlier this year when the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans said it couldn't afford $25,000 to put a coat of paint on the building, which local people said was starting to look shabby.

That prompted a debate in Parliament and political intervention at the highest levels.

Nova Scotia's representative in cabinet, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, told CBC News on June 11 that he immediately made arrangements to have the paint job done after hearing about the tarnished beacon.

In late June, a department spokesman said the repair job will cost less than $12,000.