New mural commemorates 3 historical icons of Evans City
EVANS CITY — The people who visit Evans City to see some filming sites of director George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” have a new monument to the movie to visit — more than 50 years since the film’s release.
Artist Barry Spithaler, an Evans City native, recently completed a mural on the borough’s municipal building and historical society, which depicts the “three most famous historic things in town,” including a tribute to “Night of the Living Dead.”
Rick Reifenstein, president of the Evans City Historical Society, said fans of the movie often visit the borough during the annual Living Dead Weekend, but others come all throughout the year. The mural will be another site for them to see on their journey through the living movie set.
“People are hungry for anything they can look at, anything they can relate to,” Reifenstein said about the film and its fans. “A lot of people around here wonder why all the people visit. This is a benchmark. It was the start of the whole zombie ghoul genre.”
In addition to the “Living Dead” painting, the mural depicts the borough’s trolley station — which still stands right near the mural on the corner of Jefferson and South Washington streets; and the now demolished railroad station building — the only railway depot that was built over water.
Spithaler, who now lives in Wexford, said that while he could look right at the trolley station for reference and used a projector for the living dead portion of the mural, he painted the railway depot entirely from memory.
The two historical sites were not new subjects to Spithaler — several of his paintings sit inside the Evans City Historical Society, just a few feet from the mural.
While the mural’s subjects were familiar to Spithaler, he said it was a little challenging to paint on the curved surface of the building’s “silo,” which also contributed to his decision to paint the whole thing at the ground level. To get it right, Spithaler took his sample painting and wrapped it around a round Quaker Oats container, so he could have a frame of reference for how the curved mural would look.
“Doing them on a circular thing, it was a little tricky trying to get the lines level,” Spithaler said. “I made a grid; I actually took the painting and did a square grid and planned it. That helped a lot.”
Spithaler finished the mural a few months ago, but he just signed the painting on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Evans City Historical Society paid Spithaler for his work, which he said also covered his expenses for the job. It took about three weeks to complete the mural, with Spithaler working on it for about four hours a day through the work week.
Natalie Price, vice president of the Evans City society, said the organization invited Spithaler to paint this mural after he completed a mural on the other side of the building, the silo on the side of the Evans City Public Library. That mural, finished in June, depicts a bookshelf inside a giant tree, surrounded by nature and animals — a theme inspired by forms sent in by young library patrons.
“He did such a nice job there, and I thought how nice would it be to have more of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and have it on that side toward the memorial,” Price said.
Evans City Mayor Dean Zinkhann commented on how the mural depicts three of the borough’s claims to fame.
Although it is was demolished in the 1980s, the train depot was a unique piece of locomotive history, and it was even highlighted in an edition of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not.“
The trolley station also offered convenient transportation for residents of Evans City, and people passing through the area, Price said.
“Evans City was really a hub,” Price said. “If you look at that picture, if you got on the streetcar and went to the right, to Mars, you go all the way into Pittsburgh. You go on this streetcar going (the other) way, you go all the way into Butler. Those tracks followed (Route) 68. You could go all over the place without a car.”
And, of course, “Night of the Living Dead” helped put Evans City on the map for film fans, and Zinkhann said he has met people who have come to the movie’s filming site from all around the world.
The borough has a few plaques stationed near the mural, which commemorate the filming of “Night of the Living Dead,” and another of Romero’s films shot in Evans City, 1973’s “The Crazies.”
“I saw people at the cemetery up there, they were fans from Philadelphia, and they wanted their vows redone,” Zinkhann said. “Even from Australia, the other side of the world, they redid their vows at that chapel there.”
Film fans visiting Evans City may run into locals who were around when the “Living Dead” was being filmed, including Spithaler and Price.
Spithaler said he saw the filming of a scene that involved a helicopter, but “didn’t know how neat it was until it became a classic film.”
As a teenager, Price went to one of the locations in town with some friends to watch the film shoot, and she said she is still amazed at how small of a production the classic movie had.
“We just heard they were filming out there, so we went out, laid a blanket out and watched,” Price said. “I was kind of amazed that they were making fog out of oily rags, and then somebody made a mistake.
“They threw gasoline on the fire and his clothes caught on fire, the grass caught on fire, and it went underneath the truck that later on they burn up. But they weren't ready to burn it yet, and I'm looking around going, 'Where's the camera?'”
The new mural can be seen on the corner of Center Alley and South Washington Street in Evans City.
“Night of the Living Dead”
Directed by: George A. Romero
Written by: George Romero and John Russo
Based on: Richard Matheson's 1954 novel “I Am Legend”
Starred: Duane Jones and Judith O’Dea
Running time: 96 minutes
Filmed: Between July 1967 and January 1968. The opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road. The production team also used a nearby farmhouse scheduled for demolition.
Released: Oct. 1, 1968, in Pittsburgh, and Oct. 4, 1968, nationwide
Budget: $114,000 to $125,000
Box office: Just over $30,200,000
Plot: The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls," they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture.
Franchise: “Night of the Living Dead” included five sequels released between 1978 and 2009, all directed by Romero.
Fun Fact: The blood, for example, was Bosco Chocolate Syrup drizzled over cast members' bodies.
Source: Wikipedia
