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By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Just in time for next Saturday’s Sculpture Tour, which will bring numerous visitors to Decatur, work on updating the mural on the Next Page Bookstore & More building downtown has been completed.
The revamping was done by Samantha Hindenlang.
“Samantha did a fantastic job over the last couple of weeks, even while battling through a couple of thunderstorms and several days of extreme heat,” said Rick Sovine who, along with his wife, Emily, own the building.
“We are very pleased with the finished new look and look forward to another 40 years!”
The original mural, on the west wall, was done to mark Decatur’s Sesquicentennial (150 years) in 1986. It was done by the late Fred Brecht of Fred Brecht Painting. “Samantha preserved Fred Brecht’s original signature at the bottom of the mural and added her own next to it (see photo),” Rick Sovine noted.
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With the original mural showing deterioration over the last few years of the 38-year stretch, the Sovines decided to refresh it. They were granted a City of Decatur facade grant to facilitate the effort.
Rick Sovine told WZBD.com earlier, “I think it’s very important to the city. I don’t remember when it wasn’t there. We quite often see people come into the yard and take a picture with it.”