Wall mural at Polo’s Louise A. Quick Park almost finished

POLO – The 1,200-square-foot mural at Louise A. Quick Park in downtown Polo should be completed this week, a city official said.

“It’s just to beautify that park and to educate people on the history of Polo,” Mayor Doug Knapp said of the city’s reason for commissioning the mural.

Louise A. Quick Park is located at 102 W. Mason St. in downtown Polo. It is the location of some of the Movies in the Park and Polo Area Community Theatre events.

On March 18, Polo City Council members voted unanimously to hire Nick Gjonola of Midwest Murals for about $15,000 to paint a mural on the brick wall at Louise A. Quick Park.

“Different people were throwing the idea [of a mural] around,” Knapp said. “When we started looking into artists and got Nick [Gjonola], he came up with the design.”

The mural’s design contains historic images, including portraits of President Abraham Lincoln and Zenas Aplington, the founder of Polo, on a background of a map of Buffalo Township, a steam locomotive and train station, and rural farmland.

The words “Est. 1857” might also be included, Knapp said.

The $15,000 for the mural was donated by the William and Beverly Burkardt Family Foundation, he said.