Some of the former glory of old St. John’s has been restored. A painted advertisement for Golden Pheasant Tea that once graced the west side of the East End Club building at the bottom of St. John’s Lane has been repainted as a new mural.

“We’re very pleased with the end product of the actual mural,” said Kay Anonsen, arts and cultural development coordinator with the city’s economic development, tourism and culture division. “It’s beautiful, it’s big and it’s impressive.”

Anonsen said it’s particularly pleasing to observe the positive reaction the Water Street-area mural is getting from citizens and visitors. “Everyone who walks by loves it and we’re getting great feedback.”

The mural project cost about $10,000, with R.A. Templeton Ltd. providing the paint and supplies, the Downtown Development Commission contributing $1000, and the city covered the remaining costs. The East End Club helped out by allowing the city and artists Derek Holmes and April Norman to repaint the advertisement. Golden Pheasant was a British tea once common in St. John’s. At the time of its popularity, many residents had a Golden Pheasant Tea Box, which they filled with the British product.

The west side of the East End Club building displayed various advertisements over the years. The tea advertisement was on the wall from about 1930 to 1950 and had faded away over time. Holmes, who has painted about a dozen murals in the St. John’s area, said it took he and Norman three weeks to prepare the building, sketch out the mural and paint it. “We’re really happy with it,” he said.

Despite their best efforts, however, they were unable to track down a copy of the original advertisement. “We had to resort to just talking to older people, get their recollections of the advertisement, try to piece together what we thought might have been there, and redesigned it around that,” Holmes said.

Norman said the mural helps people appreciate art within the community. Both artists agree such murals should have some historical and cultural significance. Holmes hopes the business community will come onside to support the establishment of such artworks. “It’s pretty hard to do otherwise,” he said.

Anonsen, meanwhile, said the city plans on sponsoring more murals in the future. “We have a lot of retaining walls”, she said. The city is eyeing the large retaining wall at the bottom of Shea Heights on South Side Road. It plans to get design work on selected murals over the winter and seek sponsorships and hopefully painting can begin in 2005. “It’s an excellent investment in the city and the local arts community,” Anonsen said. “Murals engage the public with art and instill a civic pride in our cultural heritage.”

TheTelegram, July 22, 2004. Craig Jackson.