The Huntington Young Professionals Committee (YPC), a committee of the Huntington Regional Chamber, has partnered with the Rahall Transportation Institute (RTI) and Bulldog Creative Services to improve community spaces. The goal of the partnership is to work to improve the appearance of the 8th Street viaduct with a mural. The mural design will include some of the current features as well as incorporate other aspects of Huntington such as river and rail.
“We wanted the new design to reflect the current city of Huntington as well as pay tribute to its roots – river and rail,” said Christine Borders, Vice President of Creative at Bulldog Creative Services. “We also wanted to respect the existing mural, so we incorporated the roses and skyline with the new elements and utilized a bolder color scheme.”
Work on the viaduct will begin on August 17 and is expected to be completed the evening of August 20. Community volunteers over the age of 18 are invited to join the effort Saturday, August 18; from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers should contact Matt Lockhart, YPC Community Development Chairman, at tlockhart@huddlestonbolen.com or Bethany Williams, RTI Project Coordinator at bwilliams@njrati.org to sign up. A waiver of liability must be signed by each volunteer and will be provided at the work site.
“After seeing how successful the 10th Street project was last year, we felt like this was the perfect opportunity to bring all of the key players in that project back to the table to see what we could do to 8th Street. The viaducts are a major part of the infrastructure in Huntington and it isn’t that often a group like ours has the opportunity to work on such high-profile projects – I’m very impressed with how much interest and enthusiasm our group has in these projects and quite frankly, I can’t wait to see the finished product,” said Michael Misiti, a CPA with The Fyffe Jones Group and the YPC’s project coordinator on the 8th Street viaduct.
“We are excited to partner with other organizations who are interested in improving our livability and community spaces,” said Robert H. Plymale, director and CEO, Rahall Transportation Institute. “The viaducts and streets are the areas our community members and visitors utilize and see when commuting to the heart of downtown Huntington. It is vital to the future of Huntington that we continue to improve the aesthetic appeal of our community’s major thoroughfares.”
About YPC: The Huntington Young Professionals Committee is a committee of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce that offers networking opportunities to area workers under 45 years old and provides an outlet for young professionals to give back to the community. The group also develops a core of young leaders committed to growing the Huntington region. For more information about membership in Huntington YPC, please contact Charles Shumaker at charles.shumaker@chhi.org.
