Time's running out to get your photo taken in front of the Western skeleton mural at The Downtown Clifton on South Stone Avenue.
Local artist Danny Martin's unnamed creation will soon be gone, as the Clifton prepares for a significant expansion.
The building on which the mural is painted — currently housing two of the hotel's guest rooms and a laundry room — is slated to be torn down within the next couple of months to make room for 22 new guest rooms, a bar and a counter service restaurant.
"We can do so much more with more rooms," said Kate Kretschmann, the Clifton's general manager. "It seemed silly not to have more available. We have a lot of return guests who want to stay here and we want to be able to accommodate them."
That means saying goodbye to the eye-pleasing mural, seen by thousands of Tucsonans as they commute to and from downtown on South Stone each day.
"It pops up on Instagram a lot," Kretschmann said. "There are two people in front of the mural right now taking photos and they are not guests."
The Clifton will hold an event on Saturday at 5 p.m. to celebrate the mural and to show the community their expansion plans. Kretschmann said the Clifton will be open during construction and that they hope to have things completed by next year's Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase.
Kretschmann said they are currently trying to figure out how to keep the flavor of Martin's mural, through preservation or possibly by commissioning a new work.
"It has become iconic to the neighborhood," Kretschmann said. "We want to have a taste of that with the new place."
