Despite earlier assurances, Cinergy Entertainment rejects mural planned for Wheeling cinema

Much-anticipated plans for a mural near Wheeling’s Metra train station have been scrapped by the company that was to partner with the village on the project.

Village officials had proposed adding a 95-foot-wide mural celebrating Wheeling’s culinary and cultural diversity to the west facade of the Cinergy Cinemas building, which is within the Wheeling Town Center complex at 401 W. Dundee Road. The west side of the building faces the station, which serves commuters on Metra’s North Central line.

But village officials and a Cinergy representative on Monday revealed the company decided not to allow the mural on the building.

“Our board has made a final decision,” Cinergy executive Kade Pittman told trustees during Monday’s village board meeting.

The topic came up during a discussion of Cinergy’s plan to build a new entrance for the movie house, which is within the Wheeling Town Center complex, and a municipal grant that will help pay for the work.

Village President Pat Horcher was among the officials who voiced disappointment over the project’s demise. It had been in the works for two months, he said, and village leaders thought the company supported the effort.

“We thought we had a deal,” Horcher told Pittman.

In response to comments from Horcher and a couple trustees, Pittman said he’d try to restart a discussion about the mural within Cinergy.

The mural was to feature images of fresh produce against a vibrantly colored field of geometric shapes representing international flags. A large QR code that would have linked to a online guide to Wheeling restaurants was planned, too.

Rockford artist Brett Whitacre had been chosen to paint the mural. Last year he created a gigantic, plant-themed mural on the facade of the Uptown 500 complex’s parking garage, across Dundee Road from Wheeling Town Center.

The village board was expected to approve a contract with Whitacre on Monday — but the deal wasn’t included on the agenda for the night’s meeting. In an interview Tuesday, Horcher said village officials learned last week that Cinergy had rejected the mural.

Horcher expressed concern about the time Whitacre already invested in the project, as well as that the artist likely had blocked out time in his schedule to create the mural.

“I do hope we can do something with the artist to compensate him for time lost,” Horcher said.

Whitacre was paid $5,000 for his preliminary designs, officials said.