Fairbanks borough declines federal grant to paint historic sternwheeler, citing concerns over strings attached [Video]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – The S.S. Nenana may not see a new paint job this summer after the Fairbanks North Star Borough opted to decline a $500,000 appropriation from the federal government for that purpose, citing provisions binding the borough to future maintenance.

And the group Friends of S.S. Nenana Inc. is asking the community to speak out against this refusal.

The 237-foot-long sternwheeler, currently located at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, operated along the Tanana and Yukon Rivers from 1933 until 1954, and was declared a National Historic Landmark 35 years later, in 1989.

“It is now the last remaining wooden hull sternwheeler in the nation. You cannot find another one,” said Patricia Schmidt, President of Friends of S.S. Nenana.

According to Schmidt, the group secured the $500,000 appropriation through the Save America’s Treasures Grant under the National Park Service.

The sternwheeler, she said, badly needs new paint.

“Unfortunately, the last time it was painted, they used latex …