A group of local citizens is looking to begin a new downtown beautification project that would focus on the history of Marshall County.
Benton City Council on Tuesday gave Mayor Rita Dotson and Councilman Justin Lamb the green light to pursue a new mural project downtown on the side of the Awesome Good Coffee Shop next to the Benton Memorial Plaza. The mural would be hoisted to the upper level of the building to avoid blockage from plaza trees and would likely depict scenes from some of the county’s more notable events and personalities.
It’s been a collaborative effort. Lamb said Dr. Robert McCrory – a Benton resident often credited with revitalizing Tater Day – had come to him with the idea several months ago; as something of a local historian himself, the project was right up Lamb’s alley. He organized a committee with Vicki Jo Reed, who has been painting Christmas scenes on the windows of local businesses for more than 30 years, Dotson and Kelly Weaver, U.S. History teacher at Marshall County High School to determine the feasibility and direction of the project.
“We’ve been meeting for maybe two or three months,” Lamb said. “… We’re wanting to just get a mural depicting some of the famous Marshall Countians of the past, some of the historical things like Tater Day, Big Singing. Just to preserve some of this history for generations to come.”
It could prove a valuable lesson in local history for students, as well. Weaver will introduce a unit on local history this semester, in which students will study the subject and then choose from that material what the mural should contain. Students will then present their ideas to Benton City Council, which will vote on content to be included on the mural.
“It’s a good way to get the city and the schools and everybody involved, and make this a good piece of the community,” Lamb said. “… Preserving history is very important. I mean, I had a history teacher tell me once that, ‘You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from.’ And I think it’s very important for future generations to know who we are, where we come from and some of the people who made this community what it is.”
The project is still in its preliminary stages so cost estimates were not yet available; however, Dotson said the owner of the building, Frankie Treas, had already committed to donating the space. The bulk of expense will come in labor and material costs, and Dotson said she intended to find potential grants and apply for funds to cover those expenses. The committee will solicit price quotes from area artists on the project and seek donations and sponsorships, as well.
“I asked the Arts Center to do an email just to see, to generate some kind of interest in our local artists, and I’ve already had several respond,” Dotson said. “So, I thought if this is something that you all want to pursue than I’ll (pursue that). I’ve been on the phone with a grant writer with the Kentucky League of Cities, they said that there is money out there for the arts.”
Reed advised the group that the painting the mural on alucabond or diebond and then hanging it on the side of the building would be a more feasible option than painting directly on the building. If all goes according to plan, painting on the envisioned 50-by-15 foot mural could begin by January. Though, it will likely be a project taken in small phases.
“It’s not something that we’d do all at one time,” Dotson said in a previous interview. “We’re probably going to have to do maybe a few boards and then go back and start again. … Because we don’t even have anything in the budget for this yet.”
The group has eyes set on a second mural in a nearby location, as well. Dotson said it was a possibility to which she looked forward for the city.
“I’m excited about this project and the students and teachers being involved with the history of our city,” Dotson said. “This will give everyone that passes through Benton a view of a small piece of our history.”