The Town of Normal and Trail East developer have asked a federal judge to end a lawsuit filed by some of the Uptown mural artists, claiming that plans to safely move the artwork means “there is nothing here for the court to decide.”
There has been little movement in the lawsuit since July. Construction on Trail East—which will destroy the building on which the mural is painted—was delayed and is now not expected to start until spring 2020 at the earliest. And while the lawsuit was filed to stop the mural from being destroyed, the town says it now plans to move it to a new, undecided location. That delicate process that will cost $100,000.
Last week, attorneys for the town and Trail East developer Bush Construction asked a federal judge for summary judgment, essentially ending the case because there are no factual issues pending. They’re also asking for the plaintiffs (13 of the artists who painted the mural) to pay attorneys fees and costs for the town and Bush. The lawsuit was filed in April.
In their latest filing, the town and Bush argued the federal copyright law at issue does not give the artists any say in where the mural is moved. They argued that the courts have been consistently clear that relocating artwork does not violate the law, called the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).
“There is nothing here for the court to decide,” they wrote. “The parties are simply waiting to see if some claim accrues in the future. The court has no current controversy to decide.”
The town and Bush acknowledged they could be back in court if the mural is damaged during its planned relocation.
“If the mural is destroyed, distorted, mutilated, or modified as a result of its being moved, then plaintiffs may have a claim, if they can establish that it was damaged intentionally or it was destroyed due to gross negligence in a way that (the Visual Artists Rights Act) recognizes as actionable,” the attorneys wrote. “Perhaps there might be a claim if the mural is damaged or destroyed in the eventual move, but this potential claim is entirely hypothetical.”
The judge on Tuesday granted a request from the town and Bush to halt discovery—the exchange of evidentiary information—until the motion for summary judgment is resolved.
The mural has become a symbol in a larger debate about the $30 million Trail East project. Normal officials tout the potential economic benefits of the project, which will bring more professionals into Uptown during the workweek. Critics say the town is offering too much in tax breaks to Bush. Others say Uptown Normal will lose some of its history and charm when three Beaufort Street buildings are demolished to make room for Trail East.
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