THUNDER BAY -- A scene from the Great War could be cast on the face of a century-old retaining wall on High Street and that could lead an artistic overhaul of the walking route between Hillcrest Park and the north core.
The city's Public Art Committee issued a call to artists last week, offering as much as $15,000 for a mural depicting Thunder Bay's role in the First World War.
City engineering director Kayla Dixon said restoring the retaining wall with pressed concrete panels including public art is one option her department hopes to present to city council.
"We would expect either a painting of some sort or possibly an etching on the concrete panels and it's up to the artists to propose what they would do and that would go to the Public Art Committee for a decision," Dixon said.
Administration announced it would consider artistic storyboard panels on pressed concrete in November as a response to neighbourhood residents decrying the city's intention not to replace the "rubble" stone wall at a ward meeting in July.
Consultants are currently costing repairs to the wall, which city staff intends to present as an infrastructure priority in the 2017 municipal budget.
Should council choose to proceed with the mural, it could become an entry point for a wider neighbourhood art project.
City parks and open spaces planning supervisor Werner Schwar said the Commemorative Walk is a plan in its infancy to commission war and peace artistic imagery to connect sidewalks between Hillcrest and Waverley parks.
"In essence, it can become a link but through different forms of public art, whether that be some simple undertaking with banners on light posts or artistic designs pressed into the concrete, almost the notion of a yellow brick road, artwork happening to guide people in between the two destinations," Schwar said.
The city has plans to extend the active living corridor that reach from Mariday Park through Hillcrest Park. Accessibility challenges persist in the park's sunken garden as well as passing over the hill where the park divides Bay Street.
A potential memorial route could enhance sidewalks through the park, across Dufferin Street and along Rollins Street to the point where Red River Road meets Waverley Street.
Schwar said the committees considering the proposal are hoping the effort can coincide with local celebrations to commemorate the 1921 Great War Veterans general meeting at the Prince Arthur Hotel where the poppy became a symbol of the Great War.
"It would be public art to help possibly interpret some of the important things but it could be more related to the year of the poppy," he said.
