Lombard trustee touches up incomplete mural of historic sites
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Images of historic buildings in Lombard have greeted visitors to village hall from a large mural atop the front desk for about the past six years.
The only problem is the mural is incomplete.
While village hall visitors may not have noticed, Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick said her eye for art lead her to realize many of the buildings depicted in the mural are unfinished and lack detail.
"To me as an artist, it's kind of like a rough sketch I have that's not really been painted quite completely," said Fitzpatrick, who has a degree in art and has worked with the Lombard Arts Coalition to plan the annual DuPage Invitational Sculpture Show in Lilacia Park.
Fitzpatrick has been working about a week to complete the painting, which was taken down in advance of a renovation to the front counter scheduled to begin this month.
The desk will receive $65,000 in upgrades to provide a more ergonomic environment for employees, improve customer service to residents who have trouble accessing the tall counter, and match design of the recently renovated board room.
The mural will be hung again once renovations by contractor J-MAC Associates of Carol Stream are complete, Fitzpatrick said.
Aside from spending several hours each morning painting, Fitzpatrick said she has driven around town snapping photos of the buildings in the painting so she can accurately create the details.
"It's a montage of historic buildings, which is interesting," she said.
Some of the buildings — such as Lincoln School and an early post office — are no longer standing. But other landmarks remain, including the Lombard Hotel and the Maple Street Chapel.
A signature on the painting dates back to 1983, but Fitzpatrick said it may be a copy of an image produced during the village's centennial celebrations in 1969. It ended up in village hall after a dry cleaning shop where it had been displayed decided it was too large and gave it to the village.
