The first of Pageland’s passion projects is close to becoming reality, as the design for the first mural is complete with an installation date set for spring 2021.
As part of Pageland winning one of the Touchstone Energy’s Main Street Makeover projects, the Pageland Chamber of Commerce and Lynches River Electric Cooperative have been working with the Downtown Comeback Team to develop a plan to spur community development and economic growth. While the pandemic has slowed the projects’ progress, it has not stopped the excitement.
“We thought that if the community could see a blank wall transform into a huge living piece of artwork, they would say, ‘Wow – this is amazing! This is who we are, and we are ready to move forward with the rest of the town,’” Pageland Chamber President Tim Griffin said.
With sponsorships from various community groups and businesses, the “Greetings from Pageland” mural will be located on East McGregor Street, painted on the building occupied by Southern Pearl. Once a direction for the mural was determined, Mallorie Rasberry, one of the partners of the Downtown Comeback team, and a regular on the HGTV show, “Hometown”, suggested freelance graphic designer Eli Morgan to create the design.
In addition to the strong presence of watermelons representing Pageland as the “Home of the Watermelon Festival”, the mural also shares the date of the annual festival and depicts the iconic Pageland water tower and the town clock. Within each letter in the name of Pageland, an image symbolizes an important aspect of the community.
The watermelon in the letter “P” and the cotton in the second “A” show the important influence agriculture has in the area. The first “A” shows a train indicating Pageland’s early days as a bustling railroad town. With the letter “G”, flowers portray the beauty Pageland offers to residents and visitors alike. Within the letter “E” is a forest, representing the importance of the lumber industry in Pageland. Power poles illustrated in the letter “L” show the major role electricity has played in Pageland’s past, present and future. The letter “N” includes a plane indicating the value of the Pageland community airport and the role it plays in the business community. The letter “D” shows the significance of area industry and the fact Chesterfield County has the largest number of metal working companies per capita, not only in South Carolina, but also in the entire eastern United States.
Along the edges of the mural will be listed the various sponsors who are making this project possible.
“Our hope that the excitement from the completion of the mural will stir the community’s creative juices enough to generate fresh ideas that will spark more life into Pageland,” said David Sides, LREC VP of Marketing and Economic Development. “The goal of all of these projects is to get more citizens engaged, and creating a vibrant community residents and visitors alike will enjoy.”