Towns with Heart has welcomed the start of its 56th outdoor mural at Kurri Kurri.
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It is being painted on the Mitchell Avenue side of the police station and depicts another chapter in the town’s history .
Towns with Heart, which manages the mural project, approached the Central Hunter Local Area Command with the idea of creating a mural on the wall of the station.
Lesley Morris and Matt Nolan of Towns with Heart said it was a good spot for a mural because of the high traffic flow.
Mr Nolan, who is a retired police officer, found the perfect photo for the project years ago when looking for images for the celebration of 100 years of policing.
The image from the 1940s shows police officers Alvin “Clive” Churchill and Claude Dimmock and the sons of officer-in-charge Sergeant Dawes, with the area’s first police car, which was stationed at Cessnock.
Claude Dimmock was also the longest-serving officer at the Kurri station, having been there for 33 years.
“Every mural has a story relating to history in Kurri,” Mr Nolan said.
The project has been in the pipeline for around 12 months, as the station building is heritage listed and needed approval from Cessnock City Council and NSW Police.
Newcastle-based artist Ben Mellon of MO Creative was chosen for the job of recreating the image on the wall, his first mural in the Kurri area.
Mr Nolan said the mural project is progressing well and is now attracting tourist coaches to the town.
Another new mural, created by Sawyers Gully artist Peter Sesselmann and located off the Hunter Expressway’s Kurri exit, is almost complete.