Rebuilding The Wall and Restoring The Mural
“…When I was contacted by Ken Strong, he asked what year the original artwork was done and up until recently I couldn’t remember. Was it 1971 or 1972? I’m happy to report it was 1971 because I remember listening to KGMO (a little near and dear to my heart) while we were working on the mural and an extremely popular song that seemed to play all the time that summer was the song “Signs” by The Five Man Electrical Band. A little ironic, a mural, a song called Signs and just a bunch of teenagers playing with paint that ended up being somewhat of a landmark for old Illmo…..yep, I still call it Illmo because that’s where I grew up. ”“So now the project has taken a turn for an entirely new mural updated with more vibrant colors, a cross on top and lighting due to the kindness of Richard Brawley donating the property on which it sits. It is easily seen as you top the overpass across the railroad tracks.” “If you appreciate the message, the historic value or just like the idea please consider donating time, talent, or treasure to this project.”
– Tim Roth
With the donated land, Richard Brawley & Richard Thompson, with their crews, formed and poured a foundation ($2,100 also donated by them). The many free labor hours involved in this is a credit to these men’s hearts!
Then they hired a crane ($360.00) and placed 3 large steel storage unites ($14,700). This was all also donated by the 2 Richards in preparation for Dryvit, a roof, a cross, and THE SIGN!
Dryvit framing work begins around the storage units in preparation for Dryvit sheets.
Interior Plus and Tim Porch donated labor to put up the sheets of Dryvit.
Roof and Dryvit progress.
Final Phase
The sign will be painted directly on the wall and completed in Spring 2023!This sign will be a huge towering message of the love of Jesus and visibly larger even than the old sign. We pray this gives glory to God and hope to man! We plan to keep the account open for annual donations to cover insurance for the memorial and to touch up the painting every 7-10 years as needed.
