The Alabama side of Ardmore has a new attraction, thanks to the weekend efforts of a new local nonprofit group.

Volunteers with Ardmore Community Team worked with members of the community Saturday to paint a butterfly mural on the side of a business near the intersection of Ardmore Avenue and Main Street. The mural is 9 feet tall and 11 feet wide.

Ardmore Community Team member Marion Ibsen painted the initial outline of a butterfly on the wall, and others got to work filling in different colors.

“Ardmore is a community that has really started to come alive over the past few years,” Ibsen said. “Even though the pandemic has knocked us down half a step, there are still businesses being started and those that are thriving here. That’s why we came up with the butterfly idea. It’s a symbol of renewal and coming back to life.”

Ibsen said the mural is a small starter project meant to excite the community and show them what is possible. She said she had the idea floating in her mind for the past two years before it finally came into being this weekend. It took three months of planning before team members had paint in hand Saturday.

She said the owner of the building loved the idea of the mural and was excited about the project.

“Ardmore Community Team is all about bringing people together,” Ibsen said. “The mural will have ‘Ardmore, Alabama and Tennessee’ on it.”

Mason Daniel, Ardmore Community Team president, said the organization is a group of like-minded individuals who want to make Ardmore a better place to live. He said members of the group saw murals in other cities and wanted to add one to the town they call home.

“We are an independent group,” Daniel said. “We have no paid employees or city officials, but both mayors (of Ardmore) are behind us.”

Daniel said the Ardmore Community Team has taken on another small project already in pressure-washing the high school’s band pavilion.

“We’ll be doing lots of similar things,” he said. “One big project we’re working on is something to do with the railroad trestle. We have been in contact with CSX, who owns it, and we would like both towns to vote on what should go up there.”