Caledonia Argus

Houston Library mural project complete

Posted: 7/29/03

The Houston Public Library has some new books-óbut not exactly books that weíll let patrons check out! Drive by the library at 202 East Cedar and youíll see a mural project in progress that features faux bookshelves and books, as well as plants, a fruit bowl, a duck, the Cat in the Hat, a spiderweb, a dollhouse, and much much more.

The Friends of the Library had long been debating ways to beautifyóat a minimum cost ó the exterior of the new library building, which had been generously donated to the city by Ace Communications Group in August 2002.

The inspiration for the book and bookcase theme came, believe it or not, from a piece of wrapping paper. Not only did the design fit perfectly with the existing structure of the building, but it seemed to us a fun and funky way of promoting library service. Funding was provided by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and the Valspar Paint Corporation through the Picture-It-Painted Grant Program. Everything else, from the musclework to the artistic vision, has come from members of the Friends of the Library, with a good deal of help from the Money Creek Live Wires 4-H Club: Rolland Roghers and Dave Fadness powerwashed and prepped the base coats; Jean Colette, Jeannie Arentz and Kelley Stanage put in countless hours outlining the design and supervising the painting; 4-Híers Tiffany Ask, Torie Ask, Cyrus Hunter, Sam Hunter, Brianna Martin, Becky Montgomery, Sam Montgomery and Angelique Rohn gave up some of their summer vacation to help with painting. In addition, the mural benefitted from the assistance of all pedestrian traffic on the south side of the street, with everyone from Jim Schultz and Terry Chiglo to the Hansen triplets lending a hand as they passed by. ìItís been such a great project to work on,î said volunteerJean Colette. ìItís taken a lot more time than we anticipated to do such a complex design, but weíve had such enthusiastic and talented people of all ages helping out that itís been nothing but fun.î

Out back of the library, there have been a few changes made recently to the lot as well. In April, high school art teacher Deb Sobek and her crew of landscape design students began preparing a stretch of green space for planting, right along the decorative flag poles. Armed with shovels, wheel barrows and pick axes, the scene behind the library every school day morning from 9:30 to 10:30 am resembled something out of the book ìHolesî by Louis Sachar. Thanks to their hard prep work, Library Board members Kim Scheevel Ross and Denise Thompson finished planting perennials in early June, with mulching undertaken by Mrs. Ross and former Friendsí president Barb Swenson in early July. This portion of our green space project was made possible thanks to a generous grant from the Houston Chamber of Commerce, as well as plant donations from Alpine Nursery of Houston and Lone Ridge Nursery of Rushford. Bricks for the decorative border were donated by Kittleson Masonry of Caledonia.

There are still a few improvement projects you can expect to see happen at the library this summer and into 2004. Outside, the parking lot is scheduled to be paved shortly and the remaining green space will be planted, thanks to, respectively, funds raised by the Friends of the Libraryís Pave the Way campaign and contributions in honor of Armin Korthauer. Inside, a $18,230 grant from the Minnesota Department of Education will allow us to install a handicap accessible bathroom and a handicap accessible front door, and remove threshold barriers leading into our backroom and childrensí rooms; once again, matching funds for this project came from the Friends of the Library. As a result, there may be times this summer when regular library hours may be changed or reduced to accomodate remodeling. Please give us a call at 896-READ to verify hours once we get into the construction phase.

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