By Mia Lamar

The neighborhood surrounding Foss Park is at odds over recent calls to have the Foss Park pool house mural repainted. Peter Ungar, chairman of the Foss Park Neighborhood Association, said he has experienced backlash and even some “threatening” phone calls after he initiated a community discussion over whether the mural should be repainted.

Ungar, who founded the Foss Park Neighborhood Association six years ago, said he originally discouraged the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation from painting over the mural when the pool house was repainted a few years ago. With backlash over the Wall of Respect for Women mural repainting in mind, he said he told the DCR he would get feedback from the community first.

“I told them not to,” he said, adding that he knew without a discussion, “people would be upset by this.” He said the DCR agreed, and told him he must get a letter from the city before the DCR would repaint the mural.

A spokeswoman for the DCR, Wendy Fox, said the city of Somerville has no jurisdiction over the repainting of the mural in Foss Park. ‚ÄúIt’s a state park,‚Äù she said.

‚ÄúNobody has contacted us about this,‚Äù added Fox. ‚ÄúWe are happy to listen.‚Äù 

Ungar says he turned to city and state delegations for assistance, to begin ‚Äúa discussion with the residents of the city.‚Äù But now, he said, ‚Äúit’s turned into Peter Ungar wants to repaint the mural.‚Äù

Ungar said he is not bothered by the mural, but only following up on the concerns of his neighbors and the Foss Park community, where he said ‚Äúat least a dozen‚Äù people have come to him to ask why the mural wasn’t repainted with the rest of the pool house.

‚ÄúThe last thing I’m being is an art critic,‚Äù said Ungar, who also said he has had no communication with the original artists of the mural, a group of teenagers who painted it in 1993 as part of the Somerville Arts Council’s Teen Mural Project. ‚ÄúIt’s about what it means to have a mural in a neighborhood. It reflects a different time that the neighborhood has moved on from,‚Äù he said. 

Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero said he has spoken with Peter Ungar about repainting the mural, but that there has been “no other requests.”

‚ÄúLet’s see what the community wants here,‚Äù he said.

Matthew Condon, Ungar’s neighbor and vice-chairman of the Foss Park Neighborhood Association, said  the debate has gotten ‚Äúway out of proportion.‚Äù

‚ÄúIt was just a suggestion,‚Äù Condon said. ‚ÄúPeter has done so many things for the neighborhood‚Ķit’s   time to move on.‚Äù

Nicole Rosa, a resident of Fellsway West, can see the Foss Park mural from her home. She said she wants the mural to stay. ‚ÄúIt’s been there my whole life.‚Äù