10 Sep [More] Changes coming to the Metropole Building

Back in May, I posted about the changing face of the Metropole building, and included a poll that asked people what they thought should happen to the exterior. Choices given included random art, posters, stay boarded up, etc., but with 667 votes out of 942, the winner was a “painted mural or large scale art.”

So, as one of the most-watched buildings in the neighborhood, it is going through yet another change, starting this Monday.

The building owners and the historic preservation board have approved a new mural that will fill the entire front of the building. The artist, who is a self-proclaimed “Aerosol Artist/Muralist/designer,” is the same one who did the mural on Washington Ave, close to Occidental Square Park.

The following is a black and white sketch of the planned art:

And a visual of the final mural:

The artist is also planning on doing a stop-motion video of the mural so that everyone can see the project from start to finish. He also mentioned on his blog that because of the massive amount of paint it will take to complete the mural, they will be asking people to make donations to the project.

Although I would prefer that the Metropole building figure out their insurance problems and turn this into a functioning building, this is the best secondary option and definitely something worthwhile to donate to.