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Blackhawks Might Spruce Up Vacant Buildings With Help From Hawks Muralist

By Justin Breen | July 8, 2016 1:03pm | Updated on July 12, 2016 10:36am
 Wicker Park artist Chris Toepfer and his son William tour the Blackhawks locker room at United Center on Friday, July 8, 2016.
Wicker Park artist Chris Toepfer and his son William tour the Blackhawks locker room at United Center on Friday, July 8, 2016.
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Chris Toepfer

CHICAGO — The Blackhawks might want to spruce up some abandoned buildings around the United Center using a Hawks mural still inside the former Old Main Post Office as an example.

After reading a DNAinfo story about the mural — in which the artist behind the work, Chris Toepfer, said he didn't want it thrown away — Blackhawks Senior Executive Director of Marketing Pete Hassen reached out to Toepfer and met with him Friday.

Toepfer said he and Hassen on Friday discussed ways of "funding and sponsoring this type of work in the neighborhood [around the United Center]."

"I'm very excited they want to partner and help revitalize the neighborhood," Toepfer said. "No sports team in this city has supported what I do. It's something they can make an impact in if they want to."

 A Blackhawks painting on the east side of Old Main Post Office, drivers on the right side of the road are heading west.
A Blackhawks painting on the east side of Old Main Post Office, drivers on the right side of the road are heading west.
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DNAinfo/Justin Breen

Hassen via email said he invited Toepfer to "come down and talk about his Neighborhood Revitalization projects" and give Toepfer and his son, William, a tour of the locker room.

Hassen added there are no plans at this point for the Hawks to help extract the Blackhawks mural currently inside the Old Main Post Office. The mural has been in the former Old Main Post Office building, which was sold in May, since 2010. It greets drivers as they head west on Congress Parkway out of the city.

RELATED: Artist Behind Hawks Mural In Old Main Post Office Building Wants It Saved

Toepfer, who is known for using artwork to make "buildings that are vacant not look vacant." He has helped enhance hundreds of vacant and dilapidated buildings in Chicago. He said the area by the United Center would be a perfect fit for his work, and the Hawks would benefit, too.

"They want to expand their footprint and their reach in the community and expand their brand," Toepfer said.

Toepfer said he's tried to reach out to the Old Main Post Office building's current and former owners and has been unsuccessful getting a hold of anyone.

If he was able to retrieve the mural, Toepfer said he'd donate it to the Blackhawks.

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