MARQUETTE - The wrestling match is over, and the trestle that once supported thousands of ore-carrying railroad cars to and from the city's docks is permanently down for the count.

The building trades and Lunda Construction recently completed the process of bringing down a 70-year-old landmark trestle that has dominated the city since 1930. The trestle had been unused since the early 1970s, but the city's leaders and residents debated tearing down the structure, since it went right over the downtown area and was such a visible part of the city.

Late last year, the City Commission voted to tear down the 200-yard-long trestle, and the people wearing hard hats took over from there.

"I never thought the trestle was very attractive to begin with," said Marquette-based Michigan Building Trades Council Business Rep. Jack LaSalle. "I think it looks fine now, and the city will be able to make better use of the space that's available."

OPERATING ENGINEER Brian Ostrowski of Local 324 gets ready to lift away a wooden section of the trestle being dismantled in Marquette.