Gardiner HPC OKs rear-wall mural at 343 Water Street, excludes QR code

The Gardiner Historic Preservation Commission voted to grant a certificate of appropriateness for a permanent painted mural on the rear wall of 343 Water Street, a block that borders Bridge Street and Water Street, but the approval explicitly excludes any QR code for soliciting donations.

The decision matters because the mural — proposed by applicant and artist Meg Umiggy — is intended to depict sturgeon, salmon and river imagery tied to the Kennebec River and to draw visitors to downtown Gardiner. Commissioners and members of the public discussed preservation, public-safety concerns, the visual relationship to the nearby A1 Diner and the limits of the commission's authority; the commission noted the City Council must also consider the project at its next meeting, described in the transcript as taking place "tomorrow night" at 6 p.m.

"The theme would be sturgeon and salmon and fishing a little bit," applicant Meg Umiggy told the commission, saying the mural is intended to remind people that fish once ran in the Kennebec and to encourage interest in river projects such as fish ladders. Umiggy said she plans to pay for repairs and the mural work and described plans to paint the wall a…