Powell’s downtown area has a bold new look, courtesy of a colorful new mural.

Following roughly a year of planning, a multi-day installation effort and around 1,700 screws, the more than 50-foot-high image features Heart Mountain beneath a brilliant sunset and starry evening sky. It replaces a mural that, after nearly three decades hanging in the sun and rain, was showing its age.

Mayor John Wetzel kicked off the push to replace the artwork last year, and he called the end result “pretty awesome.”

It took a variety of partners to make the project a reality, starting with Treasure Valley Seed. The company agreed to not only continue hosting a mural on the side of the historic bean elevator, but offered to pay for new nighttime lighting of the artwork.

“It really couldn’t have been done without them,” City Administrator Zack Thorington said of Treasure Valley Seed.

Meanwhile, the Park County Travel Council provided a $32,200 grant, the City of Powell chipped in $15,000 and the Moyer Foundation contributed $10,000 to pay for the construction and installation.

Ryno’s Rentals literally provided a big lift — donating the use of the towering man lift to get crews up and alongside the building to remove the old and install the new art.

Powell artist Jeremiah Howe submitted the winning design through a community-wide contest. Howe has said the colors are meant to reflect Powell’s “bright and exciting” future.

Turnbow Signs, formerly of Cody and now of Utah, turned the drawing into a giant reality; the former Cody firm installed the prior mural in 1997.

Live Wire Electric put in the new light while LM Construction was tabbed for the installation, which involved screwing a series of panels into place on a wooden framework. After starting on the work last week, LM Construction’s Ethan Joy and Jamey Craft secured the final two pieces into place Tuesday evening.

The job was a bit out of the ordinary for the Powell company, Joy said, but “this is definitely something worth doing.”

Just a few blocks away, work will soon begin on a new downtown mural, as community volunteers will be painting a “colorful wave” on the building behind the Plaza Diane Community Center for the Arts. The artwork was designed by Scott Larsen, who created the mural that previously hung on the bean mill.