Council Expected To Approve Main Street Mural

The City Council on Wednesday is expected to approve a proposal to spend $7,200 on a mural for the now-blank concrete wall facing Main Street on Main Street Plaza. The mural would be donated by an artist, and would provide color and charm to an area of town that desperately needs both. 

The proposal comes from Main Street Martinez, which has recruited artist Mario Alfaro to do the work. He has designed, at no charge, a mural that represents many iconic figures and places in Martinez history — the John Muir House, John Muir, Alhambra Water Co., Joe DiMaggio, a sailing ship and a Pony Express rider. The mural would go on the concrete wall that faces Main Street. The wall is now gray concrete.

According to the staff report by recreation manager Mitch Austin, the artist would use a technique that has proven to last many years. The work, once finished, would be varnished with a substance that would allow graffiti to be easily removed. If the work is damaged, Alfaro has agreed to fix it for $30 an hour.

"The wall at Main Street Plaza has been a source of concern because of its stark appearance," Austin wrote in the staff report. There is some landscaping there now, but those plants will be removed to make way for the mural, assuming the council approves the plan.

The City Council meets Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St.