New city park mural adds to Libby's beauty
Libby Central School students recently finished a scenic mural at Peace Officer Park, located between the city police department and Timberline Auto Center on Mineral Avenue. In the front row is Charlie Pilson. In the back row, from left, are Dean Herried, Will Escudero, Marcianna Mckeever, Peyton Zillman, Grace Webber, Michael Hutchison, Alex Barber and Heather Robertson. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
The mural in Libby’s ‘Peace Officer Park’ has been completed.
Students and teachers from the Libby Central School battled a wide variety of weather conditions during the last year to finish the work of art, adding to the city’s fine tradition of scenic murals.
The 10-foot diameter mural sits behind the metal wings that the late Todd Berget made, and commissioned by the Kootenai Valley Rotary Club, before his passing in 2019.
It depicts the Kootenai River as it flows through Libby next to the BNSF Rail line on its way west.
Twenty-one students played various roles in the mural, as well as teachers Heather Robertson and Dean Herried.
The students included Peyton Zillman, Alana Cochran, Grace Webber, Hunter Gonzales, Marcianna Mckeever, Alex Barber, Amber Haines, Hunter Nelson, Trishelle Glen Woody, Kiki McCann, TJ Tracy, Charlie Pilson, Kirsten Clemetson, Adelis Clemetson, David Haines, Keith Parks, William Escudero, Michael Hutchinson, Elizabeth Widerhold, David Reid and Kaycee Webber.
“We’re really proud of the kids for sticking with it through all the weather we experienced and for bringing more beauty to the city,” Robertson.
In April 2023, council voted to use $5,000 from the Community Development Fund to remove a power pole from the location.
Last fall, council accepted a $7,320 grant from the LOR Foundation to construct a concrete pad and move a heat pump to the building’s roof that also houses the Libby Volunteer Fire Department.
The project also received a hand from Robertson’s husband, Dennis, known to most as “Buzz.” His company, Busy Bee Construction, donated scaffolding, power washer and paint sprayer to aid in the students’ work.
“Peace Officer Park has evolved from a space where overgrown lilacs and a dying tree were removed, into a park,” Mayor Peggy Williams said then. “Thanks to the Boy Scouts and the Society of America Foresters, April Rainy, Rotary Club of the Kootenai Valley, Libby Central School students and their instructor Heather Robertson, the space has become a community park. A lot of people contributed to the transformation, even more people will benefit from the space, now a park, where they can sit, eat or just rest.”