Redmond City Council gives nod to murals around town, after nearly 7 decades without

(Update: adding information and video)

The city is about to get a lot more colorful

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The city of Redmond changed its sign code last week to allow murals on the exterior of commercial buildings, for the first time in nearly 70 years.

“Having a gray wall, compared to a painting -- I think it’s a win-win for everybody,” Dan Mooney, chair of the city's Commission for Art in Public Places told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday.

A 7-Up mural at the corner of Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest Evergreen Avenue was painted in the 1950s. Since then, no other murals have been painted.

Mooney said General Duffy's Waterhole is one of the first businesses to express interest in adding a mural.

Mooney said the old building at the corner of Southwest Black Butte Boulevard and Sixth Street is another location for a planned mural.

“And this wall here is kind of just an ugly, gray wall," Mooney said. "Now, we can paint a huge mural on it, and beautify Redmond.”

According to Mooney, about five businesses are already interested in adding a mural.

There will be some rules for businesses interested in painting a mural. It will have to follow one of these themes: history, local landscape, natural beauty, or regional commerce. The murals also cannot contain business logos.

“People can start submitting now for approval," Mooney told NewsChannel 21. "Once the code goes into effect, which is 30 days from now, we can start approving them. We could have art on the walls in two months.”