Millennium tiles find home

By Jerry Sowden

More than 300 hand-painted tiles created in a 2000 Pathway to the Millennium project in Oil City have finally found a public resting spot. The tiles, painted by children and adults throughout the area as part of the 2000 millennium celebration, have been in storage for years as project coordinators tried to find a suitable and permanent location. That happened recently when Trinity United Methodist Church on Center Street offered outdoor wall space. Yvonne Klapec, assisted by Ray Beichner and Lee Mehlburger, installed the 320 original tiles in wall insets facing Pipeline Alley that runs between the National Transit Building and Transit Annex. They line the pathway leading to the Transit's Victorian Garden along Oil Creek.