Mayor Michelle Arnold said the response from the borough has been positive
It took nine years, nearly $6,000 and one determined mayor, but after a prolonged creative effort and plenty of hard work, Palmyra finally has the commemorative mural it deserves.
Draped over the wall outside Tony’s Barber Shop on Cinnaminson Avenue, passersby can now enjoy a graphically designed 14-by-36-foot homage to Palmyra’s history, which includes pre-WWI photos of the old train station, borough hall and other landmarks over a background of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.
“It was agonizing,” Mayor Michelle Arnold said of the year-long process. “I took the project on about a year ago to seriously begin working on a solution. We wanted something that was going to touch everyone, reach everyone.”
Arnold and residents are pleased with the visual representation of their town that designer Ed Rooney of Penguin Studios conjured up. Mounted on a metal frame and styled almost like a billboard, the mural is a fitting advertisement for both the past and present of the borough.
Rooney, who spoke to Tony’s Barbershop co-owner Joe Ventura to develop a concept, said the experience was a rewarding opportunity to give back to the community. After developing the idea and putting it through the approval process, production took about 25 hours.
The most challenging part, according to Rooney, was bringing his vision to life and making exactly how he envisioned. His labor and creativity paid off.
“The response has been fabulous,” Arnold said. “ When you drive down Cinnaminson Avenue coming from Temple Boulevard, you see this enormous “Welcome to Palmyra,” and it’s just stunning.”
Arnold, who has lived in Palmyra most of her life, said one of the biggest struggles was figuring out how to represent the town in a way that made the best use of the wall space. But once it was decided that the mural would pay tribute to Palmyra’s deep roots and history, the ideas started flowing.
“I think everyone can relate to it,” Arnold said, adding that she strived to create something that would be meaningful to a diverse population. “I look every day to do something that’s going to benefit our residents and our future.”
Despite its positive reception as is, the story of the mural doesn’t end here. This spring, Palmyra can look forward to an expanded design that includes more of the town’s notable vestiges. Arnold and her team are in the process of gathering information from local business so they can be listed on the remaining wall space. She plans to organize the businesses based on the number of years they have been based in Palmyra.
