CRESTVIEW — If all goes as planned, downtown patrons will be able to glimpse into the city's past when a mural goes up on the side of a 1920s building.
Brad Stewart, a descendant of a longtime area family, has been renovating the 1928 Main Street building that houses his law practice. The mural, designed and to be executed by artist Darryl Davis, depicts a child peering into a dentist's office that once occupied the building, as well as historic views of Main Street.
Among the vintage images is a recreation of a noted photo showing a man rowing a boat down Main Street during flooding in the 1960s.
The display will fill the building’s entire side and will wrap partially around the back.
"The actual back portion is visible from Highway 85, so we want to put something on the back that will be very aesthetically pleasing to the community," Stewart said.
The side street wall has a fresh coat of stucco over the 1950s or '60s stucco, Stewart said. His brother, Jeremy, the project's contractor, "smoothed it out so Mr. Davis would have a smooth canvas."
The Main Street façade was re-bricked with vintage, era-specific bricks after a false front of vinyl siding was removed in February.
A $10,000 Community Redevelopment Agency Façade Improvement Grant partially funded restoration of the National Historic Landmark.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Downtown Crestview mural to offer glimpse of Hub City history