About 4-5 years ago, enough railfans put up a stink and the city council investigated the 470. As I recall, someone volunteered to oversee a cosmetic restoration and made a nice presentation to the council.
In the lead-up to the council meeting, a plea went out to send in letters of support. Apparently many people did so, including myself. The council was quite impressed with this, and promised to take action.
I also recall someone reporting that at the council meeting, it was suggested that it be sent to "the guys in Alna" because of our reputation.
Unfortunately, instead of asking the volunteer to move forward with his proposal, the council spent money on a study, which resulted in a very nice rendering of an enclosed display. Interestingly, the locomotive in the rendering bore no resemblance to the 470. No real action was taken and the volunteer walked away in disgust. (Ref. RYPN Interchange archives for the whole scoop.)
In my opinion, it should be sent to the Coles' Transportation Museum in Bangor. They know how to care for artifacts and it would fit well in their collection.
In my letter, I made known that I specifically stopped to see the 470 once, and spent money in the local business on that trip. I promised to the council that given its condition, I would not be spending any money in Waterville until something was done. I have lived up to that promise.