The parking lot next to the site of the demolished “Three Epitaphs” mural on the side of the Smith Holden music building has been put up for sale, according to a real estate sign on the wall where the mural once existed. The advertisement reads, “Rare Downtown Lot Development Opportunity.”
The demolished, “Three Epitaphs,” mural was created by Dr. Thomas Beversdorf when the building housed the Smith Holden music store. According to the Herald-Times, Real estate company Abodes Inc. was supposed to restore the mural over a decade ago.
Photos of the mural are posted at the following link: https://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Three_Epitaphs_for_Brass_Quartet
Now the site will potentially be developed with the sale of the property, which is currently a parking lot. The wall was dedicated in 1979 as a brass quartet performed the composition, according to the Herald-Times. The mural was demolished in 2010.
The Bloomingtonian reached out, via an online form, to the Planning and Transportation at the City of Bloomington for documentation regarding any agreements between the property owner and the city that the mural would be restored but did not immediately receive a response.
The Monroe County GIS shows that the current owner is Connaught Properties Llc.
In the past several years, Bloomington has been losing many of the beloved landmarks and establishments, which gave the city a unique character, as developers have gobbled up real estate to build apartments many city residents say they can’t afford.
Readers are welcome to list the lost pieces of Bloomington’s local culture, and their memories of those spaces in the Facebook comments.
