Towns with Heart has welcomed the start of its 56th outdoor mural, on the Mitchell Avenue side of Kurri Police Station.
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Towns with Heart – who manages the mural project – approached the Central Hunter Local Area Command with the idea of creating a mural on the wall of the station.
Lesley Morris and Matt Nolan of Towns with Heart said they believed it would be a good spot for a mural due to the high amounts of traffic that drive past.
A retired police officer, Mr. Nolan said he came across a photo that would fit the project years ago when looking for images for the celebration of 100 years of policing.
The image from the 1940s shows police officers Alvin “Clive” Churchill and Claude Dimmock and the sons of officer-in-charge Sergeant Dawes, with the first police car in the area, which was stationed at Cessnock.
Claude Dimmock was also the longest-serving officer at the Kurri station, having been there for 33 years.
“Every mural has a story relating to history in Kurri,” Mr. Nolan said.
The project has been in the pipeline for around 12 months, as the station building is heritage listed meaning there were approvals needed from Cessnock City Council and NSW Police.
Newcastle-based artist Ben Mellon of MO Creative was chosen to undertake the job of recreating the image on the wall, his first mural in the Kurri area.
Having painted several murals around Newcastle, Mr. Mellon said he is pleased to be involved in the Kurri project.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while,” he said.
“It [Kurri] is the mural capital of the Hunter.”
Inspector Brian Tracey agreed to assist with the project and both NSW Police and the Police Bank are sponsoring the mural.
Mr. Nolan said the mural project is progressing well and is bringing tourism to the town, including bus tours that do mural tours, of which he is a guide.
Ms. Morris said Towns with Heart is always looking for more ideas, sites and sponsors for the murals.
“It’s a really good little project for the town,” she said.
“Kurri’s pretty well known for the murals now.”
Another new mural, created by Sawyers Gully artist Peter Sesselmann and located off the Hunter Expressway’s Kurri exit, is almost complete.