Written by Sara Smart, CNN
What started out as a couple's
renovation project to convert a historic building into a bar has turned into an
effort to restore decades-old artwork in a small Washington town.
Nick and Lisa Timm purchased the
building in Okanogan, located about four hours east of Seattle, at the end of
2021. This past week, they discovered 60-foot murals painted on canvases along
its north and south walls.
“We were about 20 minutes from
covering up the walls," Nick told CNN on Wednesday. "I then was like
'Well, let's just look at what's behind all this plaster.'"
As the plaster peeled away, they
discovered a giant mural -- stretching 60 feet long and 20 feet high --
depicting a lake, cabins and trees.
One crewmember threw out the idea
that there could be another canvas on the opposite wall. Lo and behold, there
was indeed a matching mural.
They found the murals at around 5
p.m. and had been working since 5 a.m., Nick said. But the team stayed for four
more hours to uncover the rest of the artwork.
"It was like a lightning
bolt of energy," Nick said. "We were just hooting and hollering and
pulling things down."
The Timms moved back to Okanogan
last year to take care of Nick's father, who was diagnosed with lung cancer.
After he died in September, a family friend told the couple about the chance to
purchase the building.
"One of our main goals
moving back was to reenergize Okanogan and then this happened," Nick said.
Dating back to around 1907, the
building had served as a movie theater, a pool hall and even a rooster fighting
rink, according to Nick.
The couple's plan was to turn the
3,000-square-foot space into a bar and gathering place for the community,
building on Nick's experience running bars and restaurants in Olympia.
"It's funny how this worked
out," Nick said. "We were going to make it a historical showcase by
bringing in a bunch of historical stuff about the area."
After the Timms' big find, the
Okanogan County Historical Society was able to dig up a newspaper clipping from
1915 that reveals the original plan for the murals.
A local artist was set to paint
the murals for what was the Hub Theatre at that time, according to the
clipping, which was provided to CNN by the society.
"The new improvements at the
Hub include 120 feet of panoramic landscape scenery in light tans," the
clipping reads.
Now, that panoramic scenery will
be cautiously taken down, refurbished and rehung. Nick said some sections of
the murals have extensive water damage that they want to get restored as
quickly as possible.
It will likely be a pricey
process. The couple have started a GoFundMe page to gain support from the
community.
The Timms had hoped to open their
renovated bar by the end of March, but it may now take until midsummer to
finish work on the murals, Nick said.
The mural will be the centerpiece
of the establishment, and the plan still is to fill the rest of the space with
other historical items. Nick's family has lived in the area for centuries, so
many of the items have been passed down for generations. Other memorabilia have
been donated by others in the community.
And Okanogan's future gathering
place already has a name: the Red Light Bar, an ode to the singular red light
in town.