The Town of Niagara is looking to place a mural on the Extra Space Storage building on Military Road, providing a visual for those traveling along the nearby thruway.
Town Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso said that property owner Sonny Granger of Granger Development offered the building for use when asking what he could do to get involved in the community. Discussions led to the idea of a mural on the building’s west side, so it would be visible from the I-190.
“It identifies Niagara, where we are,” Virtuoso said about the mural. “We don’t have a lot of identifications.”
The mural depicts the 107th Attack Wing and 914th Air Refueling Wing insignias, the American and Canadian flags, the Military and Porter-Packard roads intersection, and a greenway shoreline trail park, along with identifiers for Niagara County, the Niagara River Greenway and the town. Its size would be 266 feet long by 20 feet high.
Ali Price of Aliway Designs created the mural artwork, having done other Niagara County pieces at Sammy’s Pizzeria, Stadium Grill, Dywer Arena, and Anchor Spirits in Youngstown. Work on designing and funding was undertaken over the past eight months.
“The concept was very nice, which is why we went with her,” said Virtuoso.
The town is seeking $108,100 of Niagara River Greenway funding to cover artist costs, Virtuoso saying they plan on voting on a resolution for it in December. The funding then has to be approved by the Niagara County Host Community Standing Committee at its January meeting.
Project documents show letters of support from county Legislators Christoper Robins and Christopher McKimmie, State Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, and State Sen. Robert Ortt.
Painting the mural would not start until this coming spring, taking around two months to complete. Volunteers, Niagara-Wheatfield students and town workers would donate their time to paint it.