Face Lift; County begins cleaning graffiti off Roosevelt Bridge
Published 10:22 am Tuesday, May 12, 2015
A Mower County Public Works worker tries to power wash graffiti off the northeast side of Roosevelt Bridge Monday. The county also took down a mural painted on the underside of the bridge recently. The mural had been painted by Vision 2020 volunteers to cover obscene graffiti. – Jason Schoonover/jason.schoonover@austindailyherald.com
The Mower County Board of Commissioners has decided to keep the Roosevelt Bridge as historically authentic as possible.
In other words, no more murals — or graffiti of any sort — will be allowed.
The county board grew upset last month with a mural painted by Vision 2020 volunteers over offensive graffiti on the underside of the bridge. The board and county officials criticized volunteers over the mural and reviewed its options to fix the bridge, which included hiring an artist to paint over the mural.
County officials ultimately decided to power wash the graffiti away and treat the bridge with a graffiti-resistant seal to prevent future vandalism.
A mural painted on the underside of Roosevelt Bridge by Vision 2020 volunteers to cover obscene graffiti has been removed from the structure.
“The board stated they wanted to keep that bridge in its historic originality, so to speak,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said.
County officials sent Vision 2020 a letter last week thanking them for their efforts to paint a mural over potentially offensive graffiti and apologized for communication failures made by the county.
Before County Engineer Mike Hanson brought the mural before the board on April 28, the county hadn’t reviewed or even learned about Vision 2020’s efforts to paint a mural over graffiti through its Community Pride and Spirit Committee.
A colorful picture of sun and its rays spreads out across the base of Roosevelt Bridge. The mural was painted in an attempt to cover up graffiti, but has drawn the ire of the County Commissioners instead who claim it looks bad. It has since been removed by county. — Herald file photo
Last year, the county completed a historical renovation of Roosevelt Bridge, which cost about $3.6 million. The county paid about $800,000 and the rest came from state and federal sources.
“With all this in mind the County Board does not feel that the artwork your group worked diligently on is appropriate for a structure of that historic nature,” Board Chairman Mike Ankeny wrote. “We understand art is subjective and the position of the county is not to criticize the mural but rather our position is that this historic structure needs to stand as originally built without any type of artwork.”
The Roosevelt Bridge spans the Cedar River on Fourth Street Southeast between Fourth and Sixth Avenues. A trail also runs underneath the north side of the bridge.
