Financially distressed Harrisburg, Pa., plans an eight-day auction of Wild West artifacts in mid-July, Mayor Linda Thompson announced.
New York auction house Guernsey’s has begun planning for an eight-day auction throughout Pennsylvania’s capital city. At least 8,000 historic artifacts and archival material will be available to collectors worldwide, according to Thompson.
“It has taken a long time to reach this point, but today we are moving forward into a new era for the city,” the mayor said.
Harrisburg, mired in $310 million of bond debt related to an incincerator retrofit project, is under the financial oversight of state-appointed receiver David Unkovic, whose proposed recovery plan aired before the Commonwealth Court last week.
Stephen Reed, the mayor from 1981 to 2009, spent $8.3 million on Wild West memorabilia for a museum that never materialized.
