America250 Westerville Receives Approval For Building Murals - Bus Crash Injures Crossing Guard
The first six America250 Westerville murals were approved Thursday night, opening the way for the city to celebrate “Untold Stories” from Westerville during the nation’s 250th birthday year.
The Westerville Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved the needed variances because those six murals will be visible on the sides of buildings across the city. The approval was required because city code limits temporary wall signs to 16 square feet, while the murals will be about 40 square feet each. They will also remain in place for up to two years, far longer than the 30 continuous days normally allowed. The remaining murals in the 12-piece project will be installed inside buildings and do not require the board’s approval.
Derrick McPeak, Special Events and Projects Manager for Community Affairs and a representative of the America250 Westerville Committee, told the board the murals are part of a broader effort to connect Westerville’s local history to the national anniversary. “Our end goal here was really a citywide canvas to celebrate and commemorate the project in Westerville’s history inside those 250 years,” McPeak said.
Jackie Barton, manager of the Westerville History Museum and vice chair of the America250 committee, said the 12-mural project is centered on “Untold Stories,” a theme meant to spotlight parts of Westerville’s history that are less familiar than some of the city’s best-known landmarks and traditions.
“We wanted our community to be going all over Westerville,” Barton told the board, explaining that organizers intentionally spread the murals beyond Uptown so residents would connect each work with the place and story behind it. Later, she said the project is meant to remind people that “there’s history everywhere in Westerville.”
Board members reacted warmly to the proposal. James Hogle said he liked “the thought of putting art outside the uptown area” and praised the focus on lesser-known stories. Another board member asked how people would learn more when they visited the murals, prompting applicants to explain that each site will include a small companion sign with the artist’s name, the title of the work and a scannable code linking viewers to more historical background.
The six mural locations approved Thursday are 855 S. Sunbury Road, where the mural will be placed on the south facade of a small office building; 609 S. State St., on the south side of the Roush Hardware building; 30 S. Grove St., on the south wall of the theater building; 139 E. Broadway Ave., on the north wall of the city’s electric division building; 325 N. Cleveland Ave., on a wall near the Westerville Sports Complex and Westerville Veterans Memorial; and 150 Heatherdown Drive, on the south wall of the WARM Westerville Area Resource Ministry building.
According to project organizers, the broader mural initiative will officially launch June 26 during Westerville’s Fourth Friday Festival. A kickoff event is planned from 6 to 9 p.m. on the lawn of Hanby Elementary, where residents will be invited to learn about the murals, explore the stories behind them and take part in the city’s America250 celebration.
The murals are being created as large-scale vinyl installations, with printing underway at The Maker Space inside The Point at Otterbein University. Organizers say the murals are expected to remain in place for about two years.
With the vote, the first phase of the mural project can now move forward, giving Westerville a public-art centerpiece for its America250 celebration and a new way to tell the city’s “Untold Stories.”
Crossing Guard Injured In Bus Crash
Westerville Police are investigating a crash Thursday afternoon in which a school crossing guard at East Walnut and Spring was struck by a private bus turning north onto Spring from Walnut.
The crossing guard was transported to Riverside Hospital by Westerville Fire. No report on the severity of his injuries was available.
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