MOUNT VERNON — A little piece of history will be returned to the family that created it.
When tearing down the old pool house a few years ago, workers took down an old weathervane in the shape of a whale that was on the cupola. The plan was to reinstall the vane on the new waterpark building, but it was placed in storage. Recently, city officials found out where the whale weathervane originated.
Roy Taylor, who had a sheetmetal shop in Mount Vernon, created the weathervane, then installed it for the city when the pool house was built in 1953.
“Roy was involved in the original design and building of the pool. He had a sheetmetal shop, made the vane and installed it,” Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis said. “We would probably have considered it scrap or put it in the rubble. It was unusual, cut out in the shape of a whale.”
Recently, Mavis was contacted by Roy’s son, Scott, who now lives in Florida. Scott Taylor wanted to know, since his dad created the whale and installed it, if the city wasn’t going to use it, could he have it. Monday at its City Council meeting, council members agreed and will return the weathervane to the Taylor family.
