MOOSE JAW — With the retaining wall along the Manitoba Street Expressway looking like an “eyesore,” the
Alex Carleton, chairman of the DMJA, spoke to city hall’s public art committee (PAC) during its recent meeting about the project, according to the meeting minutes. He said the organization is collaborating with the City of Moose Jaw and artist Carly Jaye Smith to create an artwork on the Expressway retaining wall at 421 Manitoba Street East.
Furthermore, he said the DMJA had raised enough money to cover Smith’s fees and the mural’s painting costs. However, he asked the committee for $6,000 to cover expenses for pressure washing, primer and an anti-graffiti sealant.
After Carleton left the meeting, the committee discussed the proposal and agreed that it was beneficial and positive, the minutes showed. Members then tabled the matter until their next meeting for further discussion.
Coun. Heather Eby, city council’s rep on the committee, highlighted the mural project while discussing the minutes during council’s recent regular meeting.
“It is an eyesore right now,” she said about the retaining wall. “So the downtown association has taken this project under their wing and I think they’ll do a great job this spring.”
Al Capone gets the boot
The committee discussed it over the next few months, while other groups also talked it over.
Yvette Moore, representing the downtown association, spoke to the committee during its recent meeting and said the DMJA board “was generally not in favour of a large mural depicting a criminal on the proposed downtown wall,” the minutes said.
“The board felt such a theme might not be suitable for such a prominent location and expressed openness to a smaller Al Capone mural on a street like River Street, where it might be more appropriate,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, Donna Fritzke, executive director of Tourism Moose Jaw, told PAC that TMJ’s board discussed the proposal recently, but “there was limited input received.”
“After further discussion, the committee agreed not to proceed with the mural proposal,” the minutes added.
Other murals
City administration told the committee that Casino Moose Jaw contacted city hall recently and said it had no plans to remove the two murals installed on the building’s exterior, the minutes said.
No reason was provided in the minutes about the casino’s change of heart on the matter.
Also, the committee removed four projects from the outstanding items list because they were either concluded or no longer relevant, the minutes added. Those projects included the , the “Stormin’ Main Street” mural (no current plans), the Robin Hood Mills mural (no current plans) and the
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 10.
