Barbara Rudakevych, a Hatboro resident for the last five years, coordinated the borough’s new York Road bridge mural, which saw its completion last week.

The project took almost a year and half from start to finish. The actual painting of the mural, which spans 81 ft long x 3.5 ft high, took three to four weeks, Rudakevych said, noting that the concept came to her while she was serving as the Hatboro Rotary Club’s president.

The finished product:

“I joined the Rotary after I moved here and we were looking for a meaningful project. The idea for the mural came to me from my sister, a muralist in Tennessee. I saw how it can enhance a community and I brought it to our club,” she said.

The bridge is owned by PennDOT, so Rudakevych and company needed their blessing. The borough applied for the project on the Rotary Club’s behalf.

Rudakevych said she found her artists through contacts at the local high school.

“I reached out to the Hatboro-Horsham art department in hopes that the kids could do it, but the scope was too big for the students alone. A teacher, Leah Ellert-Micikas, suggested I contact Sarah Fogg [pictured above and below], a high school teacher and muralist, to collaborate with the students. She submitted an initial design for both sides of the bridge,” she said.

The borough, the Rotary Club, and PennDOT approved the designs, Rudakevych said. Students did the priming of the bridge and the background design with Fogg’s guidance.

From there, Bill Tompkins, a local historian, provided the group with some background on local buildings and symbols.

“We voted on the top seven buildings and went with the historical symbols from Bill,” she said. “We’ve gotten excellent feedback. People have been saying that it brings them joy. It lightens up the space and it represents Hatboro’s history. One of the Rotary Club’s goals was to beautify the streetscape. We wanted to share Hatboro’s history and identity with new residents and new businesses so they feel welcomed.”

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Photos: Barbara Rudakevych