ST. GEORGE, Utah — More than a year after construction topped out, St. George's new City Hall will officially open Jan. 17 with a unique feature that gives every resident a permanent place in the building.
The centerpiece is a 12-foot-by-24-foot mosaic mural made from about 1,000 tiles painted by local residents.
Artist Lewis Lavoie and his company Mural Mosaic combined the individual tiles to form a larger picture of hikers and bikers going through Snow Canyon.
"I think the most important thing here is that somebody drew something that they love about this area," said Marc Mortensen, St. George operations director. "There are about 1,000 different stories in that mural."
Mortensen and his family all painted tiles for the project. Residents were asked to paint something specific to their hometown.
Finding your individual tile among the thousand takes some effort.
"It took me a minute — with a thousand tiles up there, you know, to find one in a thousand," Mortensen said. "That's kind of part of the fun about the mural overall — searching for the tile you did, or someone you care about. It's fun to spend a good 20 minutes just trying to figure out where those tiles are."
The mural isn't the only community touch in the building. Small figurines representing people in the community, from pioneers to outdoor enthusiasts, are placed above department signs throughout the building.
The new facility features an open-air atrium and windows that look out to Town Square, including much larger City Council chambers.
"If you've been to our old city hall, of course it was built in the 1980s," said Mayor Michele Randall. "It was dark, not a lot of windows, and in here you can just see how bright it is. I love this atrium that goes from the parking garage over to town square that people can just walk through all day."
Despite having a voice in the new hall's design, this is Randall's last week as mayor. Jimmie Hughes gets the gavel next week.
"For years and years, people will come back to this mural and say, 'Hey, mom, where's your painting?' or 'Where's grandpa's?'" Mortensen said.
