The Pontiac (Ill.) City Council voted Monday night to approve the creation of two new Route 66-themed murals in town, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.
That wasn’t a surprise, as Pontiac’s zoning board greenlighted the murals, which will be painted by Diaz Sign Art, last week. But there’s this new item that was interesting:
Bill Diaz promoted the idea of having a “walldog” festival, which would bring artists to town to paint murals. Diaz pitched the idea to the council as a way of enhancing the appearance and tourism in downtown Pontiac.
Diaz also provided examples of what an event can do to a smaller community.
“In the case of Belvidere, Illinois, there were 300 (artists) and their tourism shot up 400 percent and now bill themselves as the city of murals,” Diaz said. “We found that the smaller towns are actually more ideal … and will do with an historic event, a business that the town used to have or a landmark.”
The city administrator said he supported such an idea. The mayor plans to meet with the Diazes to work out the details.