New Aptos Mural Almost Completed

Community Donations Needed to Cover Mural With Protective Coating

Muralist Art Thomae is finishing recreating the polo grounds in the mural along Soquel Drive between the Rio Del Mar Blvd and Freedom Blvd exits not far from where the Spreckels’ mansion one stood. This area was the center of an equestrian society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only did they play polo here, it was also used as a racetrack and for sulky racing.

The Spreckels mansion that you see in the mural was built in 1877. The stables and corrals were located about where Rio Del Mar Boulevard intersects Soquel Drive today.

The century-old memories of polo ponies, race horses, sulky racing and the faint sound of hooves pounding the ground to the cheering of spectators will be preserved by the new mural but the mural itself needs to be preserved by protecting it from weathering and possible graffiti.

•••

Donations to help pay for the new mural and its protection can be made by contacting Steven Allen at: steven@alleninc.com — call (831) 688-5100, or send your donation to 347 Spreckels Drive, Aptos, CA 95003