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PrintCOLUMBIA — Members of the Street Mural Committee selected two designs to be painted on Columbia's new Bike Boulevard at a meeting Tuesday night.
The committee, formed by GetAbout Columbia, chose two designs by Sandra Eccles of Canton, Mo.
- The two winning designs, by Sandra Eccles: one resembling a compass and the other depicting a sun surrounded by a green ring. They will be painted on Columbia's new Bike Boulevard.
"They're simple," committee member Adam Saunders said. "I think that's what people are looking for."
The designs will be painted on the street at the intersections of Windsor and Melbourne streets and Ash and St. Joseph streets.
One design resembles a compass with four blue points emerging from a sun. It will be painted at Windsor and Melbourne streets.
The other design also has a sun in the center, surrounded by a green ring. The ring features images of urban agriculture as well as four people holding hands.
Residents had the opportunity to vote for their two favorites out of six finalist designs. Paper ballots were available at the downtown planning charrette last month and at the GetAbout Columbia office at Seventh and Walnut streets. Voting was also available on the PedNet Web site.
Ted Curtis, the Bike/Ped Program manager at GetAbout Columbia, said he initially was not sure whether the committee would determine the winning designs at Tuesday's meeting, attended by four of the committee's six members.
After reviewing the votes, though, the committee decided to select the winners.
"It sounded like there was overwhelming support for the two designs, so the committee went with them," Curtis said.
The green ring design won 89 of 258 votes, or 34.5 percent. The compass-like design won 77 votes, or 29.8 percent.
The third-place design, featuring monarch butterflies, by April Karlovit of Columbia received 37 votes, or 14.3 percent.
Saunders said he liked the two winners because they are viewable from any angle.
"In the street there's no up or down," he said. "You can look at it at any point."
Curtis said the committee would be working with Eccles to coordinate the logistics of painting the murals.
Among other things, Curtis said, the committee will have to ask the city for permission to block the street. It will also have to organize volunteers from the community to help paint the mural.
Curtis said he had heard of similar mural projects in other cities.
"They're pretty popular," he said. "It's like a neighborhood party."
To avoid painting on asphalt in the summer heat, Curtis said, GetAbout Columbia will probably complete the murals in the fall.
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