Lack of maintenance led to $1.3M project to replicate Community Bridge mural

Yahoo

28-02-2025

A $1.3 million effort to completely remake one of downtown Frederick's most well-known pieces of public art is underway after required maintenance was not done for decades.
The renovation project technically began in 2022, though the project required significant investigation before a plan to fix it could be developed, said the mural's artist, William Cochran.
The mural adorns the South Carroll Street bridge over Carroll Creek. The work employs a trompe l'oeil design — a French term for art that creates the illusion of three-dimensional space or objects — giving the bridge the appearance that it is made of separate stones engraved with various designs.
The mural was effectively lost due to 'neglect,' Cochran said in a Feb. 11 interview.
For decades, the city did not carry out agreed maintenance on the mural, he said.
The maintenance went undone as long as it did because the city did not have a policy on public art in place, city spokesperson Allen Etzler said in a statement in January.
'Because of that kind of lack of structure and regular upkeep, it led to the deterioration of the bridge and mural,' Etzler said. 'That's something that we regret as a city, because it's such a great piece of art.'
That changed when Frederick Mayor Michael O'Connor took office in 2017, Etzler said. The city has since conducted several studies on the mural and set aside funds for its restoration.
'This administration has done a better job in our art policy,' Etzler said. 'We've made strides, particularly in regards to this mural.'
Cochran has set out on a project he expects to take around five more years to repaint a series of panels that will replace the current mural.
MURAL HISTORY
The city in 1993 commissioned Cochran to create the mural on the previously plain concrete South Carroll Street bridge.
In the 1993 agreement with Cochran, the city agreed to pay the artist $70,000 to create the mural.
As part of the contract, the city agreed to 'reasonably protect and maintain the Work against the ravages of time, vandalism and the elements,' following the mural's completion.
The city also agreed to follow Cochran's maintenance instructions, which, along with regular inspections, included replacing 'consumables' such as caulk, flashings, mortar and membrane that kept the mural waterproof, he said.
The original plan was to use panels of artificial stone, according to Visit Frederick, the local tourism council. The plan changed when the city hired Cochran.
Cochran previously worked on several other trompe l'oeil murals in Frederick.
He and fellow artist Paul Wilson worked on the mural 'Earthbound,' which includes an angel leaning out a window on the side of the building at 45 N. Market St.
Cochran also designed 'The Edge of Gravity,' depicting a youth with arms outstretched at 43 S. Market St., as well as numerous pieces of other public art in Frederick, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Rochester, New York, and more.
When the city commissioned Cochran for the bridge, Carroll Creek Linear Park did not exist in its current form.
Between 1985 and 1993, the city worked on implementing flood-control measures in Carroll Creek, which was previously prone to flooding the downtown area, according to Visit Frederick.
Much of the area along Carroll Creek was bare and unadorned concrete after the project, Cochran said.
The mural was one of the first steps in beautifying the area, he said.
The community coalesced to help him with ideas, material and labor for the art, which he said added greatly to the design process and value of the mural.
Cochran incorporated design elements from community members and volunteers across the U.S. and internationally, lending the mural its Community Bridge title.
The mural was finished in 1998, five years after work commenced.
The mural has attracted foot traffic to the downtown area, which has in turn increased business downtown, he said.
A STATE OF DISREPAIR
Over years following the bridge's completion, the city did not maintain the bridge, he said.
'That included yearly inspections, which [the city] didn't do, to replace the consumables,' Cochran said.
The area around the bridge also lacks enough drainage to prevent storm water from collecting under the mural, he said.
To prevent the accumulation of water in and around the bridge, the city should have installed some form of drainage system near the bridge, but did not, Cochran said.
'Since 2006, the bridge has been virtually standing in a pool of water,' he said.
He said the concrete bridge then absorbs the water, which can lead to bacteria and other biological growths.
The bridge was painted with mineral-based paint meant to permanently chemically bond to the concrete, Cochran said. However, the bacteria can erode the 'paint binder' and cause the paint to dissolve.
In addition, the bottom of the mural has flaked and crumbled significantly, known as 'spalling,' he said.
This spalling was caused by deicing salt, which mixed with water and was then absorbed by the concrete, he said.
Cochran said salt particles are too big to evaporate through the concrete and they cause spalling.
A large hole, which Cochran attributed to vandalism, opened on its eastern side. The city has since covered the hole.
'Even today, the bridge is still neglected, but at this point, it's gone — a new one is coming,' Cochran said.
FIXING THE BRIDGE
From 2013 to 2020, the city worked with an art conservator, a paint manufacturing company and a structural engineering firm to assess the condition of the mural and issue recommendations for its repair, according to a report Cochran wrote in 2021.
The city removed biological growths on the mural in 2018 following recommendations in 2017 from representatives of Keim Mineral Coatings of America, which manufactures the type of paint used on the mural.
'The current administration — the O'Connor administration — has begun turning this ship around in the harbor, so to speak,' Cochran said.
In 2024, the city hired Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah as its first manager of arts and culture.
In an interview on Feb. 19, Jadallah said she previously worked as an arts administrator doing things like managing traveling exhibits for museums.
Jadallah has collaborated with Cochran to help move the Community Bridge project along 'since day one' of her hiring, she said.
She helps arrange the delivery of necessary materials for the project to Cochran's studio.
She is also developing policies around public art in Frederick as a whole and working on an inventory of the city's public art and cultural assets.
'My job has been to gather what existing information is there, and [figure] out what holes we have, and [try] to come up with processes ... and recommendations to city leadership about how we can improve and take care of the public art the city has,' she said.
NEW MURAL
In 2023, the city included $1.3 million in its capital improvement plan for work on the bridge, $250,000 of which is from a state grant.
Just over $790,000 of that $1.3 million had already been accounted for when the city entered into a contract with Cochran to arrange for him to paint panels replacing the existing mural.
The difference in cost between the 1993 contract and the current project can be accounted for by inflation, as well as the fact that much of the original labor and materials were donated in 1993, he said.
Though the 1993 contract only paid Cochran $70,000, he said the bridge project's true value was closer to $1 million after its original completion.
The figure came from an unofficial valuation by New York-based art consultant Cindy Kelly, who visited the bridge following its completion, he said.
Inflation between 1998 and 2024 has resulted in a value of $1 million at the time increasing to around $2 million in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
The work on painting new panels is only around 4% complete and is expected to take around four or five additional years, Cochran said.
The contract the city signed in November 2022 gave Cochran an estimated time frame of 42 months, which ends around May 2026.
The delay in getting the project done was caused in part by the need to prepare his studio by adding new storage spaces, he said.
'There have been unavoidable delays, like health issues, and getting materials on time and things like that,' Cochran said.
Structural Rehabilitation Group, an engineering firm based in Gaithersburg, has also needed time to design the panels for the mural.
All of the panels will be designed to help prevent the issues that caused the destruction of the first mural, Cochran said.
The contract between Cochran and the city allows for delays in extenuating circumstances.
However, the contract also stipulates that 'any change in the scope, design, color, size, material, texture or location on the Site of the Work which affects installation, scheduling, site preparation, maintenance for the Work or the concept of the Original Artwork' is not permitted.
A CHANGED MURAL
Cochran said he had some changes in mind for the mural.
'Nobody cares if a symbol gets better, nobody cares if two symbols swap places, if it's part of the artistic intent,' Cochran said.
He said he would try to include an immersive audio element to the mural, though he has not planned its exact details.
'We're open to all ideas to enhance projects — public art projects,' Etzler said.
However, the city needs to consider its budget for allocating any more funds for new additions to the mural, he said.
In addition, Cochran said he hoped to change a 'major feature' of the mural.
'But I won't say which one, and I won't say when it'll happen,' he said.
The durability of the new version of the mural rests on the city fulfilling its maintenance obligations, he said.
The contract he agreed to in 2022, like the one in 1993, does not include language designed to enforce the city's contractual obligation to maintain the mural, Cochran said.
'That's one of the things we're trying to work out. so we can really get started properly,' he said.
The Community Bridge mural is more valuable now with the construction of the downtown hotel and conference center, Cochran said. The addition of the hotel and additional development in the park area could bring many more tourists to the area, he said.
'It has a bigger future now than it ever had,' he said.