Cape flood wall murals get long awaited upgrades

Murals covering the outside of the Mississippi flood wall shine brighter than ever.

After years of work toward securing a lighting solution, Old Town Cape, led by longtime volunteer and board member Danny Essner, recently flipped the switch on the lights that now illuminate the murals in downtown Cape Girardeau. Additionally, the murals were cleaned to remove some of the grime that has accumulated.

"It will look a lot different during the day because of the cleaning, and will really look a lot different at night, with the lights," Essner recently told the Southeast Missourian.

The murals were first unveiled in 2005 and lights from the ground level were installed. But that proved not to be a workable solution. For 10 years the idea fell dormant. But two years ago the organization resurfaced the idea. Meanwhile, lighting costs decreased.

One of the final hurdles had nothing to do with cleaning or lights. Because of the wall's proximity to the train tracks, a "flag man" was required to alert workers when a train is coming. Because Ameren was already working on a nearby project that required a flag man, the two organizations were able to coordinate so that both project could be done simultaneously.

Not to be missed, several local business individuals donated to help make the project possible. And Essner, a leading advocate for downtown Cape Girardeau, is to be commended for his efforts on behalf of Old Town Cape.

The lights look great and should also help with security in the area. We applaud all those involved for making this long awaited idea a reality.