First Cape mural finds new home downtown

After several months of searching, a committee from the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri has found a new home for Cape Girardeau's first mural.

Instead of its location at 116 N. Main, where it has been for 18 years, the James Parker mural will be repainted on the side of Mollie's Cafe & Bar at 11 S. Spanish St.

Do not expect to see the new mural right away, though, as work on it will probably not get underway until the fall.

The search for a new home started around the beginning of the year, when the new owners of the Main Street building, Matthew and Dennis Volnick, announced that the wall would have to be torn up as part of the renovation to make the building fit for residential use.

"It just feels right," said arts council executive director Becky Fulgham about the new location. "We were getting a tiny bit frustrated because we couldn't come up with the right place, but I'm glad we waited."

Also happy about the arrangement is Mary Ann Kellerman, who, along with her husband Bert, owns the building that houses Mollie's.

"It seems perfect for the building," she said.

There had been talk for several years about putting a mural up on the wall, but nothing ever worked out, Kellerman said. The Parker mural works well with the building's architecture, Kellerman said, and it is fitting that a mural representative of Cape Girardeau history be on a historic building that dates back to 1905.

The side of the building the mural will be painted on overlooks Mollie's Garden, the restaurant's outside eating area.

Kellerman said the mural's measurements fit perfectly on the building and the location will allow it to be seen by many more people than its current location.

"It's like it was meant to be," she said.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

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