Murals Found At Legion Hall

WAITSBURG - In a complex as old as the store front bays that now make up the former American Legion building, you'd expect to find some treasures.

Nat Farnam and the crew from his Living Space construction company were delighted to come across old newspapers, 1940s copies of the Saturday Evening Post, vintage cartoons, liquor bottles from days gone by and coins from decades ago.

But it wasn't until Farnam explored the space between original 14-foot ceiling and 8-foot dropped ceiling that he knew they'd hit a much bigger prize, discovered, as the contractor put it, "in the beam of a dying flash light."

"We didn't realize how cool it was until we started taking the (dropped) ceiling down," he said. "It's the coolest thing we found by far."

The treasure consisted of two murals, each about three feet high and 12 feet wide, painted straight on the plaster of the wall adjacent to the Morgan building. They both depict oil- rendered wilderness scenes that would have made Teddy Roosevelt happy, though they were painted at the time when the other Roosevelt was president: 1938.

"It's not a Rembrandt, but it has nice detail and shading," said Jim German, the renovation's project manager for building owner Charles Smith, who plans to turn the hall into a tavern.

Himself a recognized painter, German reckoned it probably took the artist several weeks to paint the somewhat romantic landscape murals, which were typical for that era.

"I've seen other paintings like it in the state," he said, referring to a bar in Roslyn near Cle Ellum and to a building in Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle. "If it wasn't the same guy, it was the same genre."

The paintings were dulled by time and yellowed by cigarette smoke. The plaster under the one that depicts an elk at a lake shore has been chipped. German said the murals will be cleaned and touched up, which he predicts will be an easy process, then integrated in the plans for the buildings.

The find is welcome to Smith, whose vision for the space is one steeped in Americana. Before the tavern is even finished, an antler chandelier made by Mickey Richards has already been hung in the space (also see story on page 2).

The finder of the paintings said he's excited that the artwork will no longer be covered up.

"It's even cooler to know it will be appreciated again, showcased and enhanced," Farnam said.