The potential teardown of Vernon's Sveva Caetani mural will be addressed at the next city council meeting, Monday.

“We are still putting tax dollars in it, there should be accountability and transparency and I would like to see that,” said community advocate, Dawn Tucker.

In 2024, it was announced that Vernon’s Sveva Caetani mural would be torn down to make way for a new development.

Dawn Tucker is one of two people who started a petition to help keep the mural intact, and preserve the local artist and family it honours. The petition says it's unacceptable that the mural will be removed without communtiy engagement or input from the artist that owns the image, "especially given the historical significance of Sveva Caetani’s work."

Tucker says the murals bring revenue to the city.

“They are a huge economic asset to our community, and they can be even more so to my understanding, these murals have not been merchandised in the way that they could be,” said Tucker.

Tucker also feels many of the murals have been neglected and left to decay over time.

“I know that there's been subcontractors that have been hired to do some glazing and washing. Unfortunately, best practices have not been followed,” said Tucker.

The Downtown Vernon Association is in charge of maintaining the 28 murals in the city.

Keelan Murtagh, DVA executive director, said the DVA supports new murals and prioritizes the preservation/maintenance of its existing collection.

In 2022, city council approved a reserve fund with $107,000 to help refresh the murals around the city, but Tucker has questions about where that money has gone.

“The City of Vernon and the DVA both contribute an equal payment to the repair fund on an annual basis,” said Murtagh

“We owe our community. We owe the building owners that have these murals on them. We owe them to maintain them in the way that they were promised at the beginning,” said Tucker.

The City of Vernon said it was unable to comment on the murals until after elected officials have a chance to discuss it at the upcoming council meeting.

As of Tuesday evening, 1,665 people have signed the petition.