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Proudly Serving Viking, Irma, Kinsella, Bruce, Holden, Rural Beaver County & Surrounding Areas
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Volume 48, Issue 29
Restoration work to famous Carena mural Patricia Harcourt Editor
Residents in the Town of Viking were excited earlier in July to see a restoration artist working on upgrading of Viking’s signature “Sutter Mural.” The mural depicts hockey in Viking in three panels, including skating on a prairie slough, the Sutter brothers with father Louis in the old Carena playing hockey with other players, and the third a look into the world of the future. The mural stands on the spot of the original Carena which famously opened in 1952 with the help of famous hockey announcer Foster Hewitt, but unfortunately was lost to fire in 2005. The mural project began when creative artist and designer Melissa McMullen suggested the idea and it became a Millennial project for the town. The work was started in August of 2000 by Peggy Arnett who finished in time for an official mural dedication in
October of the same year. But after a quarter century, the mural was starting to show its age. It was decided to restore this beloved memorial to the Sutter legacy and hockey in Viking as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration. The town’s public works staff got busy recently and brightened the letters above the murals and the edges around them, as well as the metal frame. It was “a dramatic transformation,” according to many observers. For the second phase, artist Robert Murray of St. Albert appeared with his paint and brushes last Thursday morning to start restoring the mural itself. This included scraping each panel to remove peeling paint followed by brightening up the fading colours with fresh paint. The work was done while keeping the style and feel of the original artistic work. Murray said he consulted with Arnett before starting the project. “They all seem happy,” he said, by the results of the reno-
vation work. Murray started the restoration last Thursday morning and was finished by late Friday afternoon, a total of 20 hours in all. He even used an AI generated print of the mural to help him identify faces and background work. “I’m using ordinary house paint,” he said, for the mural.
But he admitted not to know the complete Sutter story until coming to Viking for the project. He was “blown away” upon learning of the six Sutter brothers becoming NHL stars, who were trained in the early days at the old Carena by their father, the late Louis Sutter. He then went on to say he also met the Sutter boys’ moth-
er, Grace, Friday morning. She came by to view the work on the mural and was also pleased, he said. Murray said he found Grace Sutter to be “a sweet lady,” and enjoyed meeting her while doing the restoration work. Now that it’s finished, he said of the mural: “She’ll last many more years.”
PATRICIA HARCOURT PHOTOS
Robert Murray works on the last panel out of three that make up the “Sutter Mural” in downtown Viking. The restoration work on the mural was completed last Friday.