With funds from the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, individual donors and a tourism grant from the city of Seaside, a Native American mural created by artist Roger Cooke will soon return to its location on the side of Ace Hardware along Broadway near Holladay Drive.

Jeff Mihalyo, a traditional and new media artist based in Seattle, is finishing work on the 60-foot mural, which was damaged when a car jumped a sidewalk in late 2021. During the restoration process, Todd Lawson, an architect and Clatsop-Nehalem Tribe member, addressed additional concerns, including a corrosive chemical reaction from the original aluminum composite panels and the plywood underneath.

The mural celebrates Seaside’s Native American history, iconic Necanicum Estuary and Tillamook Head. Among the vignettes are elders, a man carving a canoe and children playing on the beach.

“Once we learned Roger Cooke’s importance, we started to understand what a great muralist he was,” Lawson said, adding that it was important to save the mural instead of creating a new one or a reproduction. “ … We really tried to save as much as possible.”

Using precision cutting tools to repair damaged areas, the mural will essentially be intact, he said. “Jeff has really worked miracles,” Lawson said.

The Cooke mural was designed in 2008. The restoration process included sanding areas too corroded to fix, then patching and painting where needed. The back of the 16 4-foot-by-10-foot panels will be sealed with a specific type of architectural tape used in buildings that will make a small gap between the pressure-treated wood and the panel, Lawson said.

Cooke, a Sandy resident who died in 2012, is best known for his historical depictions of Northwest tribes.

Cooke created more than 60 murals between St. Louis and the West Coast. The Seaside mural was his last major work, Lawson said.

Mihalyo anticipates finishing the mural soon, Lawson said. The installation will wait until spring, when the plywood wall is dry.

The group raised $20,000 for the project, but funds are still sought to pay for some unplanned work and upgrade the connection to the building.

“It’s like an old house,” he said. “Once you open it up, you realize there’s more going (on) underneath.”