ShawneeDispatch.com

More delays have held up the installation of a mural in Shawnee's "gateway" park, and city officials say the park

"There were a few site issues that came up that needed to be worked out by the contractor, but then we'll be right back (at work)," said Tim Watson, general manager of Brickstone.

Neil Holman, Shawnee Parks and Recreation Department director, said the wall needed to be modified to align with modifications made to the mural in Virginia.

Holman said the modifactions are complete, so they are just waiting for the Brickstone crew, which has returned to Virginia. He said the city would also have to make adjustments to the contract with Brickstone for the project.

The delays have meant that the date originally set for the park's dedication, March 25, will have to be moved back.

"We're not even near that date right now," Holman said.

Pioneer Crossing was designed as an aesthetic element for the eastern gateway to Shawnee on Shawnee Mission Parkway. Including the mural and a statue of Shawnee's wagon master, Dick Williams, carved by Shawnee artist Charles Goslin, the park is the city's official sesquicentennial project.

The mural also was designed by Goslin to portray a group of covered wagons crossing the prairie. It will include a pair of bronze oxen, leading the wagons, and a bronze pioneer woman walking alongside the wagons. The bronze statue elements were crafted by a local company and are ready to be installed, Holman said.

The mural is made of a glass fiber reinforced concrete composite. The mural originally was scheduled to arrive last fall, but delays arose associated with getting the composite to capture the details of Goslin's design.

The park will also have a plaza area in front of the mural with plaques explaining the history of the wagon trails that traversed Shawnee. The plaza cannot be completed until the mural is installed, and the city will also have to plant several landscaping elements.