Canadian Town Brushed Itself Out of a Corner : Tiny Chemainus was about to shut down when artists’ murals revitalized business.

It was one of those sad scenarios that usually ends with an obituary for a small town.

In 1983, the only industry--a sawmill that had been operating for more than 100 years--closed for good in tiny Chemainus. Hard times in the timber industry had made the antiquated plant unprofitable. Other businesses closed. Families began drifting away. The stage was set for Chemainus to fade into history.

“Our name wasn’t even on most maps, anyhow,” said Karl Schutz, the local resident who almost singlehandedly saved the town. But Chemainus (sheh-MAIN-us) is very much alive and well and has grown into one of British Columbia’s top visitor destinations, thanks to a bold arts project initiated by Schutz and composed of 30 giant murals, most painted by prominent Canadian artists on the walls of downtown buildings.

Nearly 300,000 people traveled to Chemainus last year to see the scenic artist enclave that proud residents refer to as the “Carmel of the Northwest.” Tour operators who once ignored Chemainus are making it a regular stop on trips through Vancouver Island.

“It used to be that if you saw strangers in Chemainus, you knew they were lost,” Schutz said. “There was no reason to travel here. We were a little mill town, that’s all.”

These days, there is a steady parade of visitors strolling Willow Street (the once-dingy main street) and browsing smart galleries and antique shops. Toting ice cream cones, they follow a trail of golden footprints painted on the sidewalks that direct viewers from mural to mural. They pause at fresh-air cafes under leafy willows and maples. They aim video cameras at the bright murals all around town, then hike through picturesque Waterwheel Park on the way to more shops and murals.

The murals tell a brawny brand of Northwest Coast history: early-day sailing ships, American Indian tribes, logging and mining, steam locomotives, the old company store and the first schoolhouse pioneer families.

The first five murals were unveiled in 1982; seven more were added in 1983. Others were painted, including a set of four completed last year. Spurred by the murals, more than 70 new businesses, from restaurants to gift shops, have opened since 1982. The town is prospering.

And the sawmill that everyone thought was gone forever is up and running again. Its new owner, MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., a forest products company, demolished the old plant and spent $24 million to build a new high-tech mill that has doubled production.

“Dreams can come true,” said Karl Schutz.

It was Schutz who sold the community on the murals idea and then coordinated it for the first several years. Schutz and his wife Betty had toured Romania a few years before and were dazzled by frescoes that decorated the walls of ancient monasteries.

Why not commission artists from around Canada, Schutz wondered, to paint the exterior walls of businesses with scenes from Chemainus’ colorful history? Maybe the murals would attract visitors. Maybe tourism could revive the town’s economy.

But first, before the mural painting got under way, there was an ambitious downtown revitalization program, funded by provincial government money. New planters with fresh flowers. New paint on the faces of tired buildings. New benches. New sidewalks. New parking areas.

Schutz, 62, a dreamer and a doer, was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He emigrated to Canada in 1951, settled in Chemainus a year later and opened a cabinet-making shop.

“This is home,” he said. “I went back to Germany once and got homesick for Chemainus. This is where my heart is.”

The silver-haired, soft-spoken Schutz is an unlikely hero. He blushes like a kid on his first date when admirers praise him for sparking what has become known as Chemainus’ “Festival of Murals.” He heaps credit on others, including dozens of community volunteers and the mural artists themselves, who painted Chemainus for bargain prices. So far, more than $300,000 has been spent on the murals by government and private donors.

Some old-timers thought the murals project was a foolish venture, a waste of time and money. Others grumbled about not being able to slip into convenient downtown parking spaces any more as tourists began to crowd into town. Some suggested the murals be painted only by local artists and school classes.

This would not do, Schutz told Chemainus citizens. If the town were to attract international attention, the murals had to be of the highest artistic quality.

So now the little mill town has what may be the world’s largest outdoor art gallery.

Best of all, Schutz said, all of the scenes represent actual events in Chemainus’ history, and all the faces in the paintings are those of real people, past and present.

Sooner or later, the golden footprints lead to Heritage Square, a popular gathering place at Mill Street and Chemainus Road. It is a powerful finale.

Portraits of Indian leaders, faces fused across time, look down on the square from a mural measuring 20-by-50 feet. Visitors are reminded that American Indians had developed a rich culture in the area’s emerald valleys, long before Europeans settlers arrived.

Paul Ygartua, the English-born artist of Basque heritage, told his Chemainus sponsors that he is haunted by faces of native people around the world. In Chemainus, he vowed, he would paint something that told of the dignity and struggles of British Columbia’s Indians.

“Marvelous, isn’t it?” asked a smiling Schutz.

“Breathtaking,” says a visitor, unaware of Schutz’s part in the Chemainus story.

GUIDEBOOK: Finding Art in Chemainus, B.C.

Getting there: Chemainus is on Vancouver Island, about 50 miles north of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow the Trans-Canada Highway to the Chemainus turnoff. Park in Waterwheel Park in the center of Chemainus and tour the murals and other attractions on foot.

Where to stay: Bed and breakfast inns in the area include: Dashwood Seaside Manor, Victoria, telephone (604) 385-5517. The Beaconsfield Inn, Victoria, (604) 384-4044. Glyn House, Victoria, (604) 598-0664. Grove Hall Estate, Duncan, (604) 746-6152. Rates range from $55 and up, double. In downtown Victoria is the elegant, recently renovated 84-year-old Empress Hotel. Rates begin at about $160, depending on the season; (800) 828-7447.

For more information: Contact the Arts & Business Council of Chemainus, P.0. Box 1311, Chemainus, B.C., Canada VOR 1KO, (604) 246-4701. Chemainus Chamber of Commerce, P.0. Box 1311, Chemainus, B.C., Canada VOR 1KO, (604) 246-3944. Tourism Assn. of Vancouver Island, Suite 302, 45 Bastion Square, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8W 1J1, (604) 382-3551. Tourism British Columbia, 2600 Michelson Drive, Suite 1050, Irvine, Calif. 92715, (800) 663-6000 or (714) 852-1054, and 1117 Wharf St., Third Floor, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8W 2Z2, (800) 663-6000.