Council Approves New Murals At Quispamsis Mexi’s

Four murals painted on the soon-to-be-opened Mexi’s restaurant in Quispamsis have been approved by council.

The murals had been installed on the commercial building, located at 170 Hampton Road, over the past few weeks.

Under the town’s sign by-law, council must review and sign-off on all murals located in a commercial zone.

Town staff said they heard concerns from a couple of residents about the largest of the four murals, which depicts a large sugar skull.

“The caller was very concerned about the image projecting a message of silencing women as the image does appear to have feminine characteristics and the mouth does appear to be stitched closed,” said a staff report to council.

Another resident told town staff that they found the image on the mural to be “scary,” according to the report.

Chris Grannan, who owns the Mexi’s location, said the mural in question is meant to represent the Day of the Dead holiday.

“It is a celebration of life. People from October 31st to November 3rd in Mexican culture celebrate loved ones that have passed. It’s not meant to be a morbid or upsetting scenario,” Grannan told council.

Grannan said the imagery is a big part of the rebrand of Mexi’s, which was formerly known as Mexicali Rosa’s. He noted that other Mexi’s locations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario have similar murals.

Coun. Noah Donovan said he thinks the installation of the murals makes for a very colourful addition to the community.

“On the day it was painted, I actually drove by it 12 times because I just couldn’t get enough of watching him paint that,” said Donovan.

Coun. Mike Biggar said he is excited to see a new business in the space, which used to be home to a Pizza Delight.

“I think we have a town that is always glad to see commercial growth in the service industry, and in the restaurant industry especially,” said Biggar.

Grannan said they are waiting for a bit of equipment and are “close” to opening their doors to the public. During a previous interview, he said they hoped to open the location in early December.