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Ottawa magazine mural needs a new home

The Ottawa Visitors Center is seeking a new home for the Time magazine mural that was displayed at the top of the former Bee Hive and Pink Chihuahua building.

In rehabilitating the building at the corner of La Salle and Madison streets for his new restaurant, Beach House owner John Mathias was allowed to remove the mural.

This file photo from 2017 shows the Time magazine mural at the top of the former Bee Hive restaurant location at the corner of La Salle and Madison streets in Ottawa.

This file photo from 2017 shows the Time magazine mural at the top of the former Bee Hive restaurant location at the corner of La Salle and Madison streets in Ottawa. (Shaw Local News Network file photo/)

He said the “Streetscape Reflections” mural on Madison Street, which depicts Ottawa citizens in a parade crowd in the 1950s, will remain in-tact as required by the building contract, but the Ottawa Visitor’s Center is in possession of the Times mural.

“They agreed to move it so I could have a cohesive entryway,” Mathias said.

Ottawa Visitors Center Executive Director Curt Bedei said the mural is in storage and the primary goal is to have it available for public viewing again, but there has been no decision on where it will be placed. He said a discussion is planned soon.

Anyone interested in displaying the Time magazine mural can contact Bedei at the Ottawa Visitors Center at 815-434-2737. He said there are some contractual agreements necessary to display the mural and can provide more information to anyone interested.

Beach House, a new seafood restaurant, is filling the vacancy left by the Pink Chihuahua when it closed in April 2019. The restaurant will feature an open kitchen, where diners will be able to watch chefs cook their food and shuck fresh oysters. Mathias also owns Pesciolino Osteria in Channahon, an Italian restaurant.

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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