Chardon residents can expect to see local artist Elliott Miller starting on the first of three new train-themed murals in the city come the end of May, with Chardon City Council approving a third image for the north wall of the pump filtration building on Park Avenue at their May 9 meeting.
Chardon residents can expect to see local artist Elliott Miller starting on the first of three new train-themed murals in the city come the end of May, with Chardon City Council approving a third image for the north wall of the pump filtration building on Park Avenue at their May 9 meeting.
Council previously approved two murals in September — both harkening back to Chardon’s days as a railroad hub — for the south and west sides of the building. Miller, who also designed the first two, intends to continue the theme with the third.
Miller created a mockup design for the third mural for council to view and approve at last Thursday’s meeting using an amalgamation of photographs in order to give a general idea of what the finished product will be. The mural depicts an interurban in front of the historic county courthouse on Chardon Square. People dressed in 1800s clothing walk alongside the bright red car while another stands on its steps.
Due to the amount of time it takes Miller to colorize black and white photos, only parts of the mockup are in color.
“It’s just to show you that there’s going to be people walking and dressed in 1800s clothing, and to the right side, where those two boys are laying, I plan on that background being the park itself, with potentially putting the bandstand in there somewhere,” Miller told council. “But, I have to make sure that I can fit all the details onto the brick wall.”
The people in the final mural may also be in different positions than the ones in the photos, Miller added.
The two previously-approved murals will depict a steam locomotive from the Baltimore and Ohio rail line on the west wall and a map of the lines that once ran through Geauga County on the south wall.
“(The map) introduces the route,” Miller said when discussing how the three murals tie together. “And the fact that both of these cars passed through there. And then each of the other walls are pictures of the interurban, which went through the square, and then the B and O that went through the countryside.”
Mayor Chis Grau, noting text on the mural of the map, asked Miller if he thought any text would work on the other two. Miller said he was looking to putting symbols for the Baltimore and Ohio line and the Cincinnati and Eastern line on the brick. He also intends to find places to note the Chardon Rotary Club, City of Chardon and Sherwin Williams, who donated paint for the project.
Grau asked Miller if he thought a border separating the murals would be a good idea, something Miller said he had been considering in order to better draw the eye from the top of the building.
“And without a border, it kind of looks like (the trains) are going to crash into each other, so that could also separate them into two different pictures,” he noted.
While council approved Miller’s design, he said problems could arise due to the state of the building’s facade.
“A lot of the wall has very deep mortar grooves just from it sinking in, and the bricks are really starting to pop out,” Miller explained. “ I am worried that the mural will definitely not look as good as it could if we were to fill in some of the mortar and try to flatten the surface.”
Miller proposed three solutions — a full render covering the surface of the wall in concrete or plaster, filling in gaps with mortar, or painting on panels that can be hung up rather than on the walls themselves.
If none of those ideas were approved, Miller said, he would still paint directly onto the brick as it is.
Director of Public Service Paul Hornyak noted coating the walls could cost the brick texture and that Sherwin Williams does not recommend a pre-application for the paint.
“We’ll work it out, but we need some more time for a little bit more information and costs,” he said, noting a meeting has been arranged with a specialist regarding the issue.
