High school students to help community
BROWNSVILLE – Browns-ville Area High School art students will be using their day off Monday to help the community.
The students will be working with the AmeriCorps Vista’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 2011, a nationwide event honoring the late Civil Rights leader through service. The students will be starting a multiphase mural project in downtown Brownsville. Brownsville Area High School senior Kendle Parsons designed a sun that will be the focal point of the mural, which will also feature student silhouettes.
“Our project is the beginning of something new to signify Brownsville’s rebirth,” Parsons said in a news release.
Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp. Executive Director Dennis Cremonese said that while BARC’s AmeriCorps Vista volunteer Blake Fisher and high school art department director Brian Nicholson have been coordinating the project, the initial idea came from Mayor Lester Ward.
“It started with the mayor saying what can we do with these buildings to let people know we have them now,” Cremonese said.
The first phase of the mural project will feature five vacant commercial properties on Market Street acquired through eminent domain last year by the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority. Those buildings are located at 5, 21, 18-24, 35 and 43-47 Market St.
“We’re trying to lighten up the town, add some color,” Ward said. “This isn’t the final thing we’re going to do with the buildings, it’s just something to get things started.”
Ward said the students will be using stencils and paint suitable for winter use, so unless there is heavy snow or rain on Monday, the project should move forward. The students are expected to be painting between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday.
Ward estimated that more than 8,000 cars a day drive past the vacant storefronts, and making them look a little better will highlight the ongoing redevelopment project.
“It’s just one of the many efforts we’re going through to advertise Brownsville,” Ward said. “Hopefully, this will let our citizens know we are doing something to take the town back under control. It’s for the good of all of Brownsville.”
More buildings will be added to the mural project as they become available for redevelopment and reuse.
In addition to Parsons, seniors Jared Gibson, Karen Ross and Gabby Vaughn are also working on the mural, as are juniors Chad Gump, Garrett Rohrer and Matt Karol.
The project is being supported by the redevelopment authority, BARC, the chamber, the school district, Brownsville Blueprint Communities committee, the borough, the Brownsville Rotary Club and the AmeriCorps Vista Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 2011.