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City Park tractor taken for restoration and repainting

Steve Griffith, top, and Pat Gherke, with Westfall Towing, work to secure a 1908 Colean steam tractor for transport in Parkersburg City Park Wednesday. (Photo provided by Tom Joyce)
A Westfall Towing truck lifts the 1908 Colean steam tractor in Parkersburg City Park Wednesday. The tractor is being restored and repainted by American Star Paintings & Coatings in Marietta. (Photo provided by Tom Joyce)
A Westfall Towing truck transports a 1908 Colean steam tractor out of Parkersburg City Park Wednesday, headed for restoration and repainting at American Star Paintings & Coatings in Marietta. (Photo provided by Tom Joyce)

PARKERSBURG — A familiar fixture left Parkersburg City Park this week, temporarily.

The 1908 Colean steam tractor donated to the city in 1972 by local businessman and philanthropist Spencer Creel has been temporarily relocated, Mayor Tom Joyce said. It was taken Wednesday by Westfall Towing to the American Star Paintings & Coatings facility in Marietta for “a period-appropriate restoration and repainting,” he said.

American Star has a $93,000 contract with the city to do the work on the tractor and repaint the deck gun on display with other military memorials at the park.

“The deck gun will be painted on-site in the coming weeks or months,” Joyce said.

A residual balance of $55,000 from a previously secured historic preservation grant is paying for a portion of the contract, with the rest coming from the city’s capital reserve fund, Joyce said.

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