1 of 3
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Shawn Fitzwater displays a print of the mural he restored on U.S. 280.
2 of 3
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Section of restored mural (Embrace Alabama Kids).
3 of 3
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Section of restored mural (Embrace Alabama Kids).
Muralist Shawn Fitzwater was recognized during Monday night’s Mountain Brook City Council meeting, but city officials on the dais received the prizes.
Fitzwater was with representatives of Embrace Alabama Kids, which commissioned him to restore the long-faded mural along U.S. 280 near the water treatment plant. The painter brightened the spirits of the mayor, council, city attorney and city manager.
“I've painted for eight years and I've never made prints of my art. Ever,” Fitzwater said. “This is a first for me, so I wanted to give each member here a [print of the restored mural]. I’ve numbered them as well.
“It was a pleasure to work with everybody here,” the muralist said. “Everybody was great. This is the smoothest project I've ever worked on, period. Thanks to this whole group and everything. I definitely look forward to working with y'all again in the future.”
Mayor Graham Smith thanked Embraced Alabama Kids — and an anonymous donor — for taking the steps to restore the mural, which after years of disrepair is again a gateway to the city.
“On behalf of the City of Mountain Brook, we are grateful for what you have done, what you all pulled together,” Smith said. “So many phone calls, just so much attention to detail and love for our community. And, obviously, love for the children.”
Fitzwater represented his profession in his attire. “I had a suit picked out,” he said, “but [Rebecca McKinney Morris, senior vice president of external affairs for Embrace Alabama Kids] insisted I wear my work clothes.”
Morris used the council meeting as a stage to announce the launch on March 10 of Embrace Alabama Kids’ 28-day campaign for Turn Traffic into Transformation.
“We are encouraging at least 2,800 donors over the next 28 days to give to Embrace Alabama Kids to support the vulnerable kids in Alabama,” she said. “We're excited to see what the Mountain Brook community does, what Birmingham does and beyond. We couldn't have done it without the City of Mountain Brook. The police department was phenomenal. I've gotten a lot of their phone numbers, so it was a pleasure to work with y'all.”
State Sen. Dan Roberts recounted being invited to be part of the project. He was amazed at how willing the Alabama Department of Transportation, which is widening U.S. 280, was to collaborate on the effort.
“She's got magic dust,” Roberts said. “I don't call them about anything [where] they love the idea.”
The senator went on to list everyone who had to sign off on the project and how enthusiastically Morris embraced the next step.
“I think they were taking down that security barrier there at some point, so we were kind of in a time crunch to get that together,” Roberts said. “She goes, 'No problem. We'll get it done.' I'm like, ‘Whoa. We would love to have you help [on other projects].’”
During the meeting, the council also:
- Passed an ordinance to approve an intergovernmental agreement with Jefferson County and the City of Homewood for the Hollywood Boulevard Pedestrian Bridge project.
- Appointed Jansen Voss and John Shashy to the JBS Mental Health Authority.
- Approved a traffic island improvement request for Jackson and Fairway, as well as a similar request for three triangles on Salisbury Road.
- Appointed Norman Orr to the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
- Appointed Dustin A. Dew to the Board of Landscape Design.
In the pre-council meeting, the panel sent a right-of-way encroachment agreement for the free-standing clock at 2701 Cahaba Road to Village Design Review.
The next regular meeting of the City Council will be at 7 p.m. on April 13 to avoid a conflict with spring break.
