Seeing the mural

Maybe the day will come when the "Mississippi River Tales" floodwall mural blends into the background and becomes downtown wallpaper, but that's doubtful. The images are too striking, too packed with information about the history of this place we live to do anything but provoke more interest in examining and appreciating them.

The mural's dedication last week recognized the completion of a project that goes far beyond prettying up a blank wall.

Dr. Frank Nickell eloquently wrote in these pages recently of how the mural has ended the divorce that has separated Cape Girardeau from its river for the past 50 years. The ugly gray wall that protects the city from the river has been transformed into a work of art that teaches us about ourselves and our irrevocable connection to the Mississippi. The larger-than-life characters on the wall engendered our history just as we are creating the culture future generations will look back on and seek to understand.

Nickell, the director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, provided essential historical information to the gifted mural artist, Thomas Melvin.

Tim Blattner, the president of the River Heritage Mural Association, deserves much credit for years of work that led to this outcome. By reinventing Water Street as a one-way lane with diagonal parking, the city has welcomed people to come downtown to see this marvelous mural. Everyone involved deserves praise.