January 10, 2025
Shaw Local
NewsSportsCrime & CourtsNewslettereNewspaperObituariesWeekend PlansEvent Calendar

First Sycamore beautification committee workshop of year on Tuesday

Group at work to finalize downtown mural plans

By Camden Lazenby
Sycamore beautification committee members Cindy Henderson, Mark Zientek, Sycamore Mayor Steve Braser, 1st Ward Alderwoman Alicia Cosky and DeKalb T-Mobil retail store manager Jose Zarate stand together at a July 11, 2024 Sycamore Music in the Park event, after Zarate presented the city with a check for nearly $23,000.

Shaw Local file photo – Sycamore beautification committee members Cindy Henderson, Mark Zientek, Sycamore Mayor Steve Braser, 1st Ward Alderwoman Alicia Cosky and DeKalb T-Mobil retail store manager Jose Zarate stand together at a July 11, 2024 Sycamore Music in the Park event, after Zarate presented the city with a check for nearly $23,000. (Camden Lazenby)

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore beautification committee will hold its first meeting of the year Tuesday.

The Sycamore beautification committee meeting will take place at noon on Jan. 14 at 166 Brian St., Sycamore.

The beautification committee is responsible for the flowery planter boxes that were seen outside Sycamore businesses last year. The group still wants to put up a mural in downtown Sycamore.

First Ward Alderwoman Alicia Cosky said the effort was previously stymied when the owners of buildings considered prime real estate for the mural backed out.

“We’re excited about all the projects that we’re doing, but like I said we really thought we had two previous locations and were ready to move forward with muralists only to find out it didn’t work out, unfortunately,” Cosky said. “And then we had to pretty much go back to square one to find another business owner who would be interested.”

The mural the beautification committee has sought since 2024 will be on the west facing wall of Sycamore State Theater, according to current plans. The committee was awarded about $20,000 in grants from T-Mobile, but Cosky said that’s not enough to get the entire mural done.

“There are six panels on the west wall,” Cosky said. “We’re hoping that with the money we have, the $20,000 we have ... we’re going to do one panel at a time. It’s not going to be one huge mural because that cost prohibitive, and time prohibitive right now.”

Cosky said putting out muralist applications within the next couple of weeks is the most impending priority for the committee. As far as timelines, Cosky said she doesn’t immediately know when a mural could be completed, or begun, partly because it depends on the type of method the artist decides to take.

“We would like to see something up, the sooner the better, so that again will depend upon what the muralists submit in terms of what they would like to do,” Cosky said.

Have a Question about this article?