WESTFIELD — Work to repair and restore the gate at the city’s oldest cemetery is progressing and should be finished this spring.

But the hit-and-run driver who crashed through the black wrought iron gate of the Old Burying Ground on Mechanic Street in October still has not been identified.

Westfield Historical Commission Chair Cindy Gaylord said repairs at the burial ground are expected to cost nearly $10,000. She said the commission received a $2,500 donation from a GoFundMe account set up by a friend of the Old Burying Ground.

“Commission members are extremely grateful to this friend and to all who donated,” she said. The approximately $7,000 still needed to pay for the repair will not be covered by the city’s insurance.

“We are applying for a Community Preservation Grant to help cover the balance,” said Gaylord. “There is a temporary gate there now. We expect gate pieces to be reinstalled and work to be completed sometime in the spring.”

Gaylord said the driver who destroyed the gate was never apprehended — even though video from a nearby home camera captured the car’s impact with the gate in the early hours of Oct. 30.

“After seeing the video that shows the extent of the damage to the car, it’s hard to believe no one knows anything. Unfortunately, the make, model and license plate number could not be seen in the video,” she added.

Although the car tore the gate off its hinges, there was no damage to the granite sign that was added in 2007 to make the entrance more visible from the street. Gaylord urged anyone with information about the crash to contact the police.

According to Gaylord, the commission received three quotes for the repairs, with Brodeur-Campbell Fence in Springfield awarded the work.

“They have a professional blacksmith who will be working on the gate to restore it to its original 1840s appearance as much as possible. Several of the gorgeous decorative iron pieces were shattered in the crash. They will try their best to repair them.”

She explained that just two years ago, the commission was able to have the front gate completely repaired, restored and painted through money raised by its annual Historic Ghost Tours.

“The work was done by Dave Procopio of the Iron Pioneer. We were more than devastated to have his beautifully restored gates destroyed last fall,” Gaylord said.

The city’s website describes the cemetery as “an historical gem” that often goes unnoticed by many residents because it’s in a secluded location and set back about 100 feet from Mechanic Street.

The cemetery was established as Westfield’s first community burial ground in the 1600s. The Historical Commission website explained there are many smaller cemeteries in the outlying areas around Westfield that are local or family plots, but the Old Burial Ground was the first to serve the entire city.