90-foot mural will tell the history of Fort Pierre – KELOLAND.com

Ft. Pierre, S.D. (KELO) A massive project is underway in Ft. Pierre. Its a 90-foot mural with a mission. Community members want to share the citys story and thats not all.

The huge project will highlight Native Americans, buffalo, the paddle boats, ranchers and the fort, which all play a role in telling the story of the community.

Fort Pierres first downtown mural is starting to take shape.

Fort Pierre has such rich history that we just thought that it was important to highlight it and remind people, visitors and residents alike, said Gloria Hanson, Mayor of Fort Pierre.

People see it. I mean its a welcome sign is what it is to downtown and to Fort Pierre, said Dave Bonde, Executive Director of the Fort Pierre Development Program.

When its complete, each of these empty ovals will feature scenes from decades past.

It is inspiring others to want to make good changes in Fort Pierre. You know Fort Pierre is not different from any other city in the Midwest, even the big cities suffered from loss of their downtown when malls were built and retail moved to the malls and now its moving back and people want to live downtown and people want to have a lively downtown area so I think thats what its going to do, said Hanson said.

The mural is just the first step in some of the renovations coming to downtown Fort Pierre.

We never lost touch with the idea that we really wanted to bring downtown Fort Pierre back to life again. Weve got businesses that have jumped on that bandwagon and thanks to them were seeing that progress happen, said Bonde.

Updating the downtown area, and adding new features like this mural, could also impact the economic growth of the city.

Weve had people that have invested a lot of money in downtown, in the buildings, and they too want to see it grow. So were just looking for that continued growth from developers and investors that want to see life in downtown Fort Pierre, said Bonde.

The mural will be completed next summer and they are hoping to begin work other murals as well. The city says its goal is to transform the downtown area to look more like an old western town.

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90-foot mural will tell the history of Fort Pierre - KELOLAND.com