Contractors use a lift to strip paint from the top of a portico column in downtown Concord on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
Contractors use a lift to strip paint from the top of a portico column in downtown Concord on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Credit: ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff

The two-story portico at the corner of Pleasant and State Streets is getting a facelift this week, but the laborious task of stripping the old paint job comes first.