For decades, John Wesley Powell has watched over the city that bears his name, gazing out across Powell’s rooftops from a towering mural along Coulter Avenue. But with the picture of the famed explorer fading and showing its age, city officials think it may be time to freshen up the mural or come up with a new design.

Last week, the Powell City Council voted to pursue a grant that could potentially fund a facelift.

“It’s an opportunity,” Mayor John Wetzel said in an interview.

Installed in 1997, the mural measures 53 feet high, consisting of 26 sheets of plywood, according to past reporting by the Tribune. It graces the front of a nearly century-old grain elevator that’s currently owned by Treasure Valley Seed; the company also owns the art, as the city transferred the mural to the company in 2007. Wetzel said Treasure Valley is willing to work with the city on a new or refreshed design.

The mural’s wood panels are mounted to a structure that runs alongside the elevator and aren’t screwed into the building itself. 

“So it wouldn’t be that hard, other than [being] expensive, to take it down,” City Administrator Zack Thorington told the council at its March 20 meeting.

According to Tribune archives, it cost $14,300 to create and install the piece in 1997. While the city is still working to develop a cost estimate for an update, “obviously it’s going to be a lot different than 30 years ago,” Thorington said.

That’s why the city hopes to receive a grant from the Park County Travel Council, which recently received $600,000 from the Wyoming Office of Tourism’s Destination Development Program (which, in turn, received the funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act). Among other goals, Wetzel said the travel council is hoping to enhance travel destinations, potentially including murals and other city beautification efforts.

“The money is there to make our communities look better and be more attractive to visit,” said the mayor, who also sits on the travel council. “So it seemed like a good opportunity to look at the project ...”

If funding is awarded, the city council will need to decide whether to renovate or completely reimagine the mural. Wetzel suggested the city could partner with the Plaza Diane Community Center for the Arts and other local artists to conduct a juried review of possible designs; Thorington floated the idea of a contest.

The mayor noted that the price tag of repainting versus creating something new may turn out to be a factor. However, “if it’s pretty much the same [cost] to go new or repaint, should we open it up for new ideas? Should we open it up for some community input? I would think so,” Wetzel said. “It’s an opportunity for a change.”

Designed by Scott Larsen of Powell and painted by then-Cody resident Mike Turnbow, the mural was installed three years after Powell was named an All-America City. That honor is depicted right at the top, above a color image of a farmer irrigating and a stylized, monocolor portrait of John Wesley Powell.

As the City of Powell website notes, the explorer, U.S. Army major and geologist never set foot in the Powell Valley. However, his thinking about water reclamation helped inspire efforts like the Shoshone Project, which delivers water to the area for drinking and irrigating crops.

The elevator that bears the mural is listed in county records as having been constructed in 1930, and it’s one of Powell’s better-known landmarks — appearing, for instance, on the Powell Economic Partnership logo. At a 2017 Powell City Council meeting, it was announced that the structure might be destroyed, but that turned out to be incorrect.

Wetzel expects the travel council will consider the city’s grant application at its April 20 meeting.