Jamestown officials are applying for a portion of the county’s 3% occupancy tax for a project to install a mural on the east side of the Washington Street Bridge on Harrison Street.

A week ago we noted there was opposition to a county-backed program to install four murals in Falconer, Dunkirk, Sherman and Westfield through the Paint CHQ program. Legislator Fred Larson of Jamestown disagreed with the mural program moving forward with outside funding after county legislators tabled the program, a sign legislators didn’t want to spend any county money on the project. We agree with Larson’s premise, in part because we would prefer to see a project driven by the participating municipality with some sort of rhyme and reason.

That makes Jamestown’s proposal a different animal than the Paint CHQ program. The city is leading the process, has a definite aim for the mural and is using an established funding source open to anyone. It’s the type of project that we wish the Paint CHQ program had been. There is no county staff time tied up in Jamestown’s proposed project other than to evaluate the grant application.

Should the project be approved? We think people are overvaluing the attraction murals have for visitors. Jamestown has several murals, including one unveiled this year of Roger Tory Peterson and Lucille Ball murals that are popular for those visiting the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center and National Comedy Center. Our collective support of new murals, however, treats murals as the centerpiece when they are always a background piece of the experience. Much like the county’s newest Paint CHQ murals, painting this section of the Washington Street bridge will add some color to an otherwise drab area, but in our opinion we shouldn’t be so concerned with “placemaking” and creating social media spots. We’re putting a beautiful new mural in a location that isn’t really a great place for visitors. Turning the corner up Baker Street reveals a blighted neighborhood. Walking toward Brooklyn Square leads tourists to a closed drug store, a closed big box store and an eyesore of a former restaurant.

At least the process behind this mural is sound. But mural projects, in our view, are putting the cart before the horse when there is so much to be done to create the type of downtown we would want to visit.