As the City of Nitro looks forward to its centennial next year, it's tapping into younger talents to help complete a key feature at the city's upcoming Memorial Park.
Nitro High School's principal recommended Claire Hemme, a 2016 graduate, to Mayor Dave Casebolt to design and paint a 2,500-square-foot mural at the new city park that showcases Nitro's World War I legacy.
The incoming West Virginia University freshman has spent the past couple of weeks tracing the massive design onto the side of the Nitro Antique Mall, which butts up against the new park at the corner of 21st Street and 2nd Avenue.
"I had never met Claire before," Casebolt said Thursday as Hemme made touch ups to the red, white and blue mural.
"She said she was willing to do it, and she put the whole thing together."
Hemme, who's studying strategic communications at WVU, said she's leaving for school on Friday but will come home on weekends to work on the mural until it's complete.
"There's not that much we still have to do," she said.
Casebolt said the park will serve as a "living memorial" to veterans of all wars, and will specifically feature Nitro's contribution to World War I.
The U.S. government selected Nitro as the location for a munitions plant in 1917. It was one of three cities to have massive explosives plants constructed to supply American troops under the Deficiency Appropriations Act of Oct. 6, 1917.
That led to its namesake, from nitrocellulose, which is used in smokeless powder.
"Within eight months, the entire town was built. There were over 100,000 people living in town [and] 600 guards constantly on duty, protecting the town," Casebolt said. "That's what built the town."
While the war ended before Nitro was completed, the infrastructure was already in place at the munitions facility to attract other chemical-related industries over the next several decades.
The city is matching a $60,000 grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to complete the project.
Designed by Baker Engineering, the park will include a stage for entertainment and community gatherings, benches, a water fountain and a statue of the doughboy - a term used to describe American troops during World War I.
The city is also selling pavers that will be installed at the park to honor military veterans. The pavers cost $25 each, and the money will go toward the park's construction costs.
Casebolt said the park will be "a place where people can come and just relax. And every time they do, they'll be reminded of our history - and this mural will be a big part of that."
The city is tentatively planning for the park's grand opening on Nov. 8.
Reach Elaina Sauber at
elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com,
304-348-3051 or follow
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