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Uptown Mural Artists Seek Restraining Order to Stop Demolition

Uptown Mural
Staff
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WGLT
It’s unclear when construction is set to begin on Trail East, the $30 million mixed-use development that sparked the legal fight over the 8-year-old mural. ";

UPDATED 3:40 p.m. | The artists who sued the Town of Normal over their work on the Uptown mural are now asking a judge for a restraining order that would temporarily prevent it from being moved or destroyed.

In a motion filed Wednesday, the 13 artists asked U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade to stop the town and developer Bush Construction from “taking any actions to destroy, mutilate, or modify” the mural before a preliminary injunction hearing can be held.

The demolition is not anticipated in the immediate future, said Normal City Manager Pam Reece. Bush is responsible for demolition, and an actual date for property conveyance and demolition has not been set, she said.

"The town continues to move forward with plans to preserve and relocate the mural as a solution to keep the Trail East project moving forward as presented to the (Town) Council back in December," Reece said.

Trail East is the $30 million mixed-use development that sparked the legal fight over the 8-year-old mural. The town and Bush want to demolish three buildings—and the attached mural—along Beaufort Street to make room for Trail East. 

In Wednesday's filing, the artists said they're concerned “planned destruction (of the mural) could start as early as mid-May,” once the Illinois State University spring semester ends. That timeline is based on "news reports."

William McGrath, the Chicago attorney representing the 13 artists, has said he doesn’t think the mural can be safely moved.

“By slow-walking the process (of building Trail East) for eight years, the town is in no position to claim that it will be harmed from some additional delay due to this lawsuit,” McGrath wrote in a memorandum in support of the restraining-order filing.

Town officials said relocating the mural could cost upwards of $81,560, plus transportation costs and finding a new home for it. Town officials have also said they may sue their former tenant—one of the 13 plaintiffs—to make her pay for it. Wednesday’s filing by the artists claims the town is indeed preparing to do that.

A hearing on the restraining-order request is set for May 13 in Peoria.

Project History

The mural has become a symbol in a larger debate about the project. 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 if the buildings are demolished, largely because the mural—a popular spot for photos and passers-by—will be leveled too.

The original lawsuit, filed April 24, claims federal copyright law doesn’t allow the town and Bush to destroy the mural without the artists’ consent.

The dispute hinges on a part of federal copyright law called the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA). McGrath said his clients have a legal right to protect their work from being intentionally destructed. The law affords this right to “work of a recognized stature”—a threshold that McGrath said the mural plainly meets.

McGrath said he notified the town and Bush via letter in October 2018 about the artists’ concerns. Settlement talks were underway—McGrath said the artists were seeking compensation—but they apparently stalled.

Reece, the city manager, has said the town “will appropriately defend (its) position to move forward with this major economic development project, which consists of a developer investing over $30 million in Uptown—providing jobs, customers and outside investors into our community and supporting local businesses.”

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Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.
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