A private/public partnership is bringing a whole lot of colour to a little bit of King City.
Work on a mural has started on Keele Street, just south of King Road. The property, which is slated for development, is on the west side of Keele Street and is fronted by a 150-foot-long section of temporary fencing, also known as hoarding.
Ward 5 Councillor Debbie Schaefer approached King Township staff about possibly doing something creative with the blank wood-panel fencing.
“Normally you might see renderings of the proposed development but the application isn’t that far along yet,” said Schaefer. “The hoarding’s going to be up there for a while. When I was looking at it last week I felt anxiety and worry: what have we lost? What will be there someday? And how long until there is something?”
After some initial discussion at the municipal offices, Kathleen Fry, curator of King Township’s Museum, took on co-ordination of the project.
She contacted artist Amanda Brittin to see if she was interested. Brittin painted the Headwaters Parade of Horses statue in front of the museum.
“She’s very creative and I thought she’d be a good fit for the project,” said Fry.
Brittin agreed to paint the mural and Mayor Steve Pellegrini and councillor Schaefer spoke with property owner Walter Pontiero who agreed to the project.
The last piece of the puzzle was getting the paint. Andy and Marcy Nemes, owners of Design on King, a local home decorating business, hopped on board and donated the paint.
“This is a great example of how private and public partnerships can result in improvements to King without spending a whole lot of money or taking a lot of time to get done,” said Mayor Pellegrini. “Councillor Schaefer had a great idea and I’d like to thank Walter, Andy and Marcy for going above and beyond to brighten up a section of Keele Street. Thanks also to staff, especially Kathleen, for moving the project from an idea to reality in such a short time.”