Discussion at Thursday’s Maysville City Commission meeting introduced a project to replace the hand artwork at Limestone Landing.
According to Projects Manager David Hord, the possibility of renovating the trestle at the tunnel has been in discussion for several years. When the city was awarded a grant last year, the opportunities began to fall into place.
While the project to replace the hand artwork will be lead by the Charles T. Cotterill Foundation, there have always been plans to renovate the trestle and make it look nicer.
City Manager Matt Wallingford noted the hand print artwork has been at the landing since the early to mid-1990s. Hord explained the city was already going to be doing “a lot of work” on the riverfront.
“It seemed like the perfect time for a project like this,” Hord commented. He and Wallingford continued to discuss the condition of the artwork that currently sits along tunnel walls.
According to Wallingford, the handprints are in “really bad shape.” Hord agreed with Wallingford’s statement in saying the artwork has gotten in “disrepair” throughout the years. He explained “things needed to be done.”
Hord went on to discuss the city’s part in this project.
To start, city workers are going to remove the hand prints as they can do so. Hord said families of those who did the artwork will be contacted, if possible, and allowed to collect the hand print.
Once removed, Hord’s crew will clean and fix up the walls to provide a strong base for the incoming artwork. He noted the desire to save and preserve as many hands as possible while removing them from the walls.
In light of how this project is going to affect the city, Hord felt it would be a “great” rendition to Maysville. He said there is an expected increase in boat and foot traffic at Limestone Landing following project completion.
Hord added the project will be totally funded and will not cost the city much funding outside of what would have already been spent.
“It’s gonna go toward our community, things that are in the community,” Hord remarked. “This is a process where the community’s involved, the kids are involved, we’re involved. It’s just gonna be a great project”
He proceeded to discuss the process for completing the new artwork.
According to Hord, the new artwork will be created through a collaboration with the University of Kentucky and intermediate school-aged students from Mason County Schools and St. Patrick School.
He said the university will provide a workshop to the students to teach them how to complete the artwork, which involves sand blocks and metal pours. Hord explained the artwork and resources in depth.
There will be 1,300 sand blocks, each six inch by six inch, provided to the students. Some may do more than one, Hord noted.
After receiving their sand block, students will sketch drawings into the sand to create a three-dimensional mold that will later have metal poured into it to preserve the shape.
The finished metal blocks will be lined on the wall in a pattern, according to Hord. Following the project’s explanation, Commissioner Ann Brammer agreed with Hord in saying this project will be good for the City of Maysville.
”That sounds like a win-win situation,” Brammer said. Hord went on to discuss the time frame for the project.
According to Hord, the Charles T. Cotterill Foundation will be ordering the supplies from December through February. In March, the students will take the workshop to complete their carvings and castings.
Hord expects the artwork to be finished and installed in May.