‘Ottawa as a Canal Town’ mural at 909 Clinton St. painted over

“Ottawa as a Canal Town” mural at 909 Clinton St. was painted over with navy blue paint on Wednesday to make that stretch of the block match up with the rest of the building’s exterior.

It’s been known since October 2016, that “Ottawa as a Canal Town” might not be around for too long as the Ottawa Visitors Center was given six-months notice back in August 2016, according to an Oct. 2016 article from retired Times reporter Charles Stanley.

Ottawa Attorney Thomas Justice purchased the building, which was formerly Mr. Penguin Tuxedo, in 2016 with the intention of turning it into his new law office. The entire building has been painted and the windows are currently boarded over as contractors work on renovations.

Justice has not yet returned request for comment.

“Ottawa as a Canal Town” was painted in 2003 by Springfield artist Gregory Ackers at a cost of $30,000. This funding was donated by civic organizations that included the Illinois & Michigan Canal Corridor Association and the Illinois Arts Council, according to an Oct. 2016 article from The Times.

Murals in Ottawa started to spring up in 2002, two years after A Brush With History started after Peg Breslin was inspired by what she had seen in British Columbia. That led to a stretch of seven years where mural unveilings were a regular event, as Ottawa now has nine murals. The most recent addition is John Pugh’s Georgia O’Keefe-inspired trompe de l’oeil- which translates from French to “deceive the eye”- on the Central Life Building at 628 Columbus St.

Bob Eschbach, a member of the A Brush With History mural committee, said he’s disappointed as he was under the impression the mural had been saved when it wasn’t. It was one of the keys to revitalizing Ottawa’s downtown and Breslin’s inspiration became one of the first actions he took as mayor.

He also acknowledged that Justice has every right to paint over the mural.

The process for getting this mural, and every other mural, painted was extensive. Eschbach said they had artists from across the United States and Canada before selecting through who would provide a model for what they wanted to create. Then there was a jury of community members that selected the idea they liked the best.

“It was a very important mural, though,” Eschbach said. “It was personal and it as the Canal Town mural, which is really where we started to find the beginning of Ottawa. It’s unfortunate and I don’t think people realize how much went into it.”

Eschbach said the mural was painted with a special kind of paint called times paint that works similar to using dye to stain fabric, except it’s done on brick instead of fabric. The mural should have had a long life expectancy.

While the mural has been painted over, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone forever. Local photographer Annette Barr was hired by the Ottawa Visitors Center to take photos of all of the murals with the intention of preservation. While it might not be the same, the murals can still be reproduced using those images.

Stanley wrote that Ottawa already has restored paintings that are high-quality and durable in the 16 4-by-7 foot paintings depicting the life of Jesus Christ that are displayed in Washington Square Park every year.

“One of the things we’re researching right now is a way to use digital images projected onto a metal plate and then mount that plate on the wall,” Eschbach said. “We have used metal before but the artist painted right on the metal.”

This process was used for the Native American mural near the Lone Buffalo.

Eschbach said there’s a way of doing this digitally that they’re looking into it as a possibility.

“The committee is still functioning and we’re hoping to have another mural within the next year or two,” Eschbach said. “We’re very appreciative of the outpouring of support for us right now and the support for the mural program.”

Eschbach said A Brush With History should be gathering to come up with a new concept for a mural soon, although the mural on the Central Life Building was a really big project.