Eric Henn paints buildings, water towers and other structures across the nation for a living. He said he worked on the repainting or retouching Franklin’s murals in October this fall and finished up just before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
He said he has lot of jobs pending in several states; so far, he has painted structures in 45 states.
“I’m really pleased that the city decided to do all of them,” said Henn, who is originally from Franklin but now resides in Miamisburg. “I’m really happy that the city opted to refresh the signs.”
Franklin City Manager Sonny Lewis said the city spent $12,000 for the restoration work and said Henn gave the city a discount.
“That’s a bargain and he does a great job,” Lewis said. “He worked on them between jobs.”
Some early estimates for the restoration work ranged between $10,000 and $40,000. The murals were originally paid for by the city at the start of its downtown murals program more than 13 years ago but some had started to peel due to weathering and other factors.
Henn said the most of the murals, such as the ones located on the Huntington Bank building, the License Bureau building, the American Legion and the ATT building were all repainted and had clear coating applied which protects the murals from the sun’s ultraviolet light.
“Murals have to be clear-coated every seven years,” he said. “It keeps the paint from fading and can last 20 years and beyond if they’re taken care of.”
Henn said the murals at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building were retouched on South Main Street and the Pisanello’s Pizza building mural at East Fourth and South Main streets was redone.
Two murals were deteriorating to the point where the paint was peeling was at the former Parker’s Dry Cleaning building at East Sixth and South Main streets. The building featured the large mural called “The Five Modes of Transportation” which depicts Franklin’s transportation heritage.
The other mural on the rear of the building is the Ohio Bicentennial logo and has a special significance. During Ohio’s bicentennial, there was a program to have a barn painted in each of the state’s 88 counties with the bicentennial logo. City officials at the time petitioned the state to have a “bicentennial logo” painted on one of its buildings. Franklin was No. 89.
City officials had previously said those two murals had been peeling away due to the elements as well as chemicals, heat and humidity generated from the building that once housed a dry cleaning operation.
Henn said the original mural was painted over and added that over time, moisture built up behind the original paint and caused it to peel.
“It makes me happy because the look is more vibrant and, to me, they look much better,” he said.
Mayor Denny Centers said Henn will be back in June to repaint the diner mural located on the ATT Building on South Main Street to include people inside of the diner.
Henn also said another touch will be a 1950s vintage Texaco sign on a pole, adding that “it will really add to that mural.”
He said there may be some new murals coming to Franklin in the next year.
“I’m not sure of the concepts, but there are some buildings that will be good candidates,” Henn said.
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