SUDBURY – On the morning of October 12, a new mural was unveiled in the pedestrian underpass underneath Sudbury's Elgin Street.
Monique Legault and her team put in more than 128 hours of labour to complete the mural, capturing works done by architect and artist Oryst Sawchuck.
"I'm slightly OCD. I need to get it done. I'm a completist and so even I still find things that I wanted to add to it," said Legault, Artist.
The mural includes names like 'Records on Wheels' and 'Hollywood Shoppe', capturing Sudbury businesses that may be gone, but are certainly not forgotten.
"I think it's amazing. It's preserving and educating about the history of Sudbury. Oryst was an instrumental community builder and he was also an architect so some of the buildings in the downtown are his," said Lynda Cartier, Sudbury Arts Council.
"He was a man for all seasons you might say, and really this is a great tribute to Oryst and his work in Sudbury," commented John Lindsay, a friend of Sawchuck.
Legault says the only criterion for the mural was that it had to be a business that was no longer around.
"Things like the Records on Wheels… most people that live in Sudbury remember Records on Wheels so it's not only a historical thing, but it's something the people of the downtown relish," explained Legault.
The mural drew a crowd for its unveiling, and this is not Legault's first.
"This kind of artwork should be all over downtown. Tourists would come down here. I'll support this as council 100%, and I'm sure every other councillor in this city will support this kind of artwork throughout our downtown," said Bill Leduc, Sudbury City Councillor.
"I was in this, like I said 128 hours in this tunnel, I didn't run into anybody that I wouldn't have given a hug to. Everyone was so great and so supportive," said Legault.
She says there were other historical buildings that she wanted to add but unfortunately didn't have the space.
Legault has since made a pitch to the Sudbury Arts Council in hopes of getting another wall.
