SHORT TAKES : Swimsuits for Nude Mural Asked

City officials want an artist to dress up the week-old mural he painted on a hotel exterior wall that shows a nude couple from the back gazing into each other’s eyes on a deserted beach.

Mayor Sal Oliveri and City Atty. Alan Koslow visited the owner of the Sunray Lodge Motel on Thursday to suggest that swimsuits be painted on the two naked lovers.

“It’s just out of place. We don’t want to start a style or trend of nude pictures on buildings,” Oliveri said.

The artist, Steven Kroeger of Lauderdale Lakes, was flabbergasted.

“Would they have put bathing suits on a Rubens? I can’t figure it out,” he said. “Maybe they take showers in Hollywood with their clothes on. It’s kind of weird.”

Koslow also said the artist should add children to the scene. “It should be family-oriented with children playing on the beach. It’s a beach scene,” he said of the 18-by-24-foot mural.

Motel owner Doris Ouellet said she will cooperate and will talk to the artist about adding swimwear or shading. But she said she does not understand why the city is making the fuss.

“To me, this is a storm in a glass of water,” she said. “This represents Adam and Eve in paradise. In paradise, Adam and Eve didn’t have children. And they didn’t wear bikinis, either.”