Butler Freeport Trail features new mural at Marwood Road trailhead
WINFIELD TWP — Bike riders and hikers on the Butler Freeport Community Trail likely noticed a new sight recently at the Marwood Road trailhead.
A new mural, depicting various scenes in the southeast part of Butler County, was completed in late July.
According to Chris Ziegler, president of the Butler Freeport Community Trail Council, a mural was something that the trail had been looking to add for some time.
“Butler Freeport became a trail right when the ‘rails-to-trails’ movement was happening in this country,” Ziegler said. “The people depicted in the mural were visionaries who saw what trails could do for communities today.”
Ziegler says that the mural was one of several items on the council’s “wish list” for the trail. Another item, a mile-long paved section of the trail, was finished last year.
For the mural, the trail council commissioned Giuseppe Mammano, an artist based in Cadogan Township, Armstrong County, who specializes in painting outdoor murals for buildings. The mural itself was painted on a brick wall, which used to be part of the Krause General Store on Marwood Road.
From left, the mural depicts a number of scenes related to both Winfield Township and the trail itself. These include the old railroad, the Krause General Store, the ribbon-cutting from when the trail first opened in 1992, children riding bicycles along the new accessible trail section and a bridge over Connoquenessing Creek finished in 2014.
Ziegler said there are still some items remaining on the trail council’s “wish list.”
“We’re looking at a new signage plan and improved parking areas,” Ziegler said. “The trail is very busy, and we like the fact that we have several access points. I would like to make some of those areas a little nicer and bigger.”
