Tom Panei puts up his new paintings at a kiosk at the south end of the General Richard Butler Bridge on Tuesday in Butler. His original pieces of art for the kiosks will be auctioned off.

New murals will be placed at the Welcome to Butler kiosk along Route 8 in coming weeks, but the old ones will continue to contribute to the city.

The murals, which have welcomed visitors to Butler at the south end of the General Richard Butler Bridge on Route 8, were replaced with new artwork, and the old murals will be refurbished and auctioned off to benefit downtown development.

Butler artist and musician Tom Panei, who created artwork for the three original panels on the welcome kiosk erected in May 2007, said the panels were faded and needed to be replaced.

They were removed several weeks ago.

“The other ones got pretty weathered,” he said.

“This is a pretty ferocious intersection for artwork.”

Panei said road salt sloshing up onto the kiosk during the winter is the main culprit for degradation of the artwork.

The south-facing, a 2-by-4-foot panel featuring a downtown Butler skyline, was replaced with a print about two years ago, and has already begun to fade. Panei said that is the reason he decided to add fresh artwork to the remaining two panels on the kiosk's west and north-facing sides.

Like the originals, the new art is created with chalk on oak panels, covered in several coats of marine varnish.

The two panels replaced Tuesday, 3-by-4 feet and 4-by-4 feet, respectively, feature a Bantam Jeep and an abstract painting much like the originals. Panei said future panels are likely to change, though, to keep people from getting bored with the images.

“I kind of did them like the old ones, but I think every three or four years I'm going to try to replace them with something different,” Panei said.

He restored and framed the original panels, which will be auctioned at the Butler Downtown annual meeting on Nov. 16 to benefit the organization.

Panei said he got the idea when the original south-facing panel was bought by city Councilman Joe Bratkovich after being replaced.

Panei's father helped him with carpentry on the project, since one of the panels had to have a hinge attached, allowing PennDOT workers to access the traffic signal circuitry underneath.

Panei was not finished working on Tuesday after he installed the panels, either, as he went straight to Natili Restaurant & Lounge to hang an 8-by-8-foot mural on the building at 104 W. Wayne St.

The mural, which depicts wine glasses, a keyboard and the restaurant's chandelier, was commissioned by Natili owner Vince Tavolario.