EASTON, Pa. — Easton’s first Blueprint Communities project will highlight the past, present and future of the South Side neighborhood, officials said Monday.
Standing outside Chubby’s restaurant at 154 W. St. Joseph St., Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone, Mayor Sal Panto Jr., Planning and Codes Director Dwayne Tillman, Chubby’s owner Raj Patel and longstanding members of the neighborhood celebrated a Blueprint subcommittee project they said will see a mural detailing South Side’s history and future.
“West Ward has a nice mural to bring pride to West Ward, and now we wanted to do this for the South Side. So we thank Raj and Chubby’s for giving us a call, and we're looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks."Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone
Upcoming Easton Area School District senior Mila Martinez will help launch the project in the next few days, Pintabone, a Southside resident, said.
Once it's completed, a ribbon-cutting will be held, he said.
“We're a great community, as the mayor mentioned during his speech," Pintabone said. "So many great, talented, successful people came from the South Side.
“West Ward has a nice mural to bring pride to West Ward, and now we wanted to do this for the South Side. So we thank Raj and Chubby’s for giving us a call, and we're looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks."
'Feel great pride in it'
Panto said that while most of the attention for the city falls on the Downtown district, he hopes the mural will shine a light on the importance of the neighborhoods.
“We're lifelong residents of neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods are really important," Panto said.
"And this mural will at least showcase something that I think is really important to our timeline: the past, present and future."
Patel said that he has been part of the community for two decades and wanted to contribute the wall of his business to the mural project to help enshrine the history of the area and its progress.
“I did whatever I had to do to renovate the whole place, and I feel great pride in it," Patel said.
"The mayor is doing an excellent job since we came in. It was a huge problematic area, and he cleaned it up. And I just wanted to be part of the community that he made so great; that gives me immense pleasure in this community."
Looking for more murals
Easton’s South Side earned a Blueprint Communities designation alongside Allentown and eight other commonwealth communities in April 2024.
The initiative, created by FHLBank Pittsburgh and administered by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, offers training and resources to help local leaders create thriving and sustainable communities.
Community teams help the effort by developing strategies for revitalization that improve quality of life for residents and focus on building community assets, engaging residents, improving local housing and attracting new businesses and jobs.
Pintabone said that as communities progress through the program, success is rewarded via mini grants to help invest in revitalization efforts.
South Side’s Blueprint group and its mural subcommittee already are looking at other initiatives to help further the cause, officials said.
“So we're looking at a couple more murals in South Side," Pintabone said. "We haven't identified locations yet.
"But as I said, [we’re also looking at] making the city more walkable, more pedestrian friendly, more lighting, more safe things of that nature will come out of this grant in this program."
