A request to place a mural monument for The Easter Brothers musical group in downtown Mount Airy has sparked a wider discussion about the need for a policy regarding such memorial requests.
City officials who are exploring this regulation also say a way should be found to better direct visitors to murals and other attractions downtown in general.
The issue at hand was sparked by a request from Grant Welch to put a marker in Jack A. Loftis Plaza on North Main Street, a public rest area.
Welch is a local citizen who spearheaded an effort to have a large mural painted on a wall at the plaza of The Easter Brothers, a legendary local gospel bluegrass group, which was completed last year.
“People don’t know the mural is there,” Mayor Ron Niland said regarding the nature of the monument request during the last meeting of the city council on May 19.
“The purpose of this (the marker) is to direct them to the mural.” Downtown visitors might not be able to notice The Easter Brothers mural at all depending on their line of vision.
“Grant has a point, that when people are walking they don’t always see the mural,” Commissioner Jon Cawley said.
Based on a schematic design presented to city officials, the monument would rest at the edge of the plaza near the sidewalk and be about 3 feet tall and 24 inches wide. Plans call for it to contain the words “Easter Brothers mural” and an arrow pointing to the artwork.
It is proposed to be made of black granite with white lettering and a glossy finish.
Complications arise
While the mural plan might seem simple enough, the implications for its placement proved to be anything but during the council’s discussion.
One concern raised by Commissioner Steve Yokeley centers on the original purpose of the plaza that opened in 2011 — to honor a well-respected former mayor who has since died.
“If we do this,” Yokeley said of pursuing the Easter memorial, “I would like to get the approval of the Loftis family for anything else put there to honor somebody else.”
Yokeley added that there is a reason for the facility being named Jack A. Loftis Plaza. “I certainly think we need to continue to honor his name.”
The mayor said he has no problem highlighting the musical group itself. “The Easter Brothers were such a big part of our community,” Niland mentioned, adding that Welch has been “passionate” about the project.
Lack of guidelines
Another revelation that arose during the recent meeting was that the city government lacks a comprehensive policy to handle requests such as that for the Easter monument involving memorial items placed on public property.
City Planning Director Andy Goodall confirmed that there there are no specific standards in place for codes enforcement of such markers.
“We don’t have a formal policy and that’s why the few (requests) that we’ve had have come before the board,” he said of the city commissioners.
Goodall said that previously two “monument-style benches” had been OK’d for a downtown alleyway containing a restored Coca-Cola mural.
Yokeley also recalled that a request for a memorial bench on the City Hall grounds was denied by officials.
Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis, former recreation director, said there is a program for naming items such as benches and picnic tables along the greenway and similar locations in memory or honor of someone. Lewis suggesting that this also could be applied downtown.
The matter of who would foot the bill for memorial markers also emerged as a consideration, with the mayor saying the municipality should do so when public spaces are involved— “rather than put that responsibility on private individuals.”
And city officials say that there should be a systematic way to guide downtown visitors to attractions not only including The Easter Brothers mural, but one honoring late singer Melva Houston, the Andy and Opie statue and a recently completed Andy Griffith mural.
Goodall suggested that publishing a brochure containing maps and other pertinent information distributed at Mount Airy Visitors Center might be a better way to do this than a marker.
“If a marker is only three feet tall, if a car is parked there people won’t see it anyway,” the planning director reasoned.
It was noted during the meeting that a downtown master plan update now underway contains a goal to provide more wayfinding signage in the downtown section which would address the issue raised about helping visitors find sites.
But in the meantime, city officials directed the Planning Department to work with local travel and tourism officials to come back with a temporary solution until the wayfinding program is fully established.
Meanwhile, City Manager Stan Farmer mentioned that a simple sign directing tourists and others toward the Easter mural could be placed in a flower bed at the Loftis plaza, a step that has since been implemented.
“I think this is a good start,” the mayor said of the preliminary plans.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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