By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Rick Sovine, owner of the Next Page Bookstore & More in downtown Decatur, spent his Friday doing some tuck-pointing of the building’s brick (see photo) in preparation for the makeover of the mural on the west side of the structure.
Weather permitting, Samantha Hindenlang will begin work on the mural on Monday. The effort is likely to take a couple of works, or more, depending on the weather, Sovine estimated.
The mural was painted on the west wall of the building to mark Decatur’s sesquicentennial (150 years) in 1986.
It has been showing deterioration over the last few years of the 38-year stretch, so Rick and his wife, Emily, decided to not only refresh the mural but refresh the message as well.
When the work is completed, the updated mural will say: “Welcome to Decatur established 1836.”
The Sovines were recently chosen for a grant from the City of Decatur’s facade program to help pay for the effort.
“I think it’s very important to the city. I don’t remember when it wasn’t there,” Sovine told WZBD.com back in January. “We quite often see people come into the yard and take a picture with it.”
The Sovine family lives on the second floor of the building.
Last summer, Hindenlang painted the mural on the north wall of the Betsey’s Boutique building downtown, near the Next Page.
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