Great Kewanee Fire mural to rise from the ashes this week
Two additional attractions for Hog Days 2022 will pertain to the Great Kewanee Fire of 1942 − the repainting of the Walldog mural of the fire and a slideshow program about the fire.
The painting of the mural will begin Wednesday at dark when an image is projected onto the west side of the Peoples National Bank extension building that fronts on Second Street between Tremont and Chestnut, according to Dianne Packee of the Kewanee Walldog committee.
Walldog artists will continue Thursday thru Saturday to recreate the mural that formerly occupied the south wall of the old Kewanee Historical Society museum at the corner of Chestnut and Third Streets.
In conjunction with the Walldog project, Mike DeWalt of the historical society will present a slideshow program featuring photos of the fire and its aftermath Saturday afternoon at 4:30 at the society’s new museum at 125 N. Tremont.
The program will also include information and pictures of the reconstruction of several blocks of downtown that occurred in the years after the April 1942 devastating fire. According to DeWalt the building that houses the new museum was one of the first built after the fire destroyed the building on that site.
There is no charge for the program or for visiting the museum, which will be open during Hog Days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
This article originally appeared on Star Courier: reat Kewanee Fire mural to rise from the ashes this week
