Pat Palmore and her murals committee members were about $16,000 shy of the financial commitments they needed to move forward with their next project, a series of 12 panels which will tell the story of textiles in Covington County from the cotton fields to the gin to the factory.

Palmore addressed the council Tuesday night, asking the city to cover whatever amount the committee is not able to raise so that Dothan mural artist Wes Hardin can move forward with the project in Alatex Park on River Falls Street.

She said the committee’s goal is to have the project completed with the traveling Smithsonian exhibit, “The way we worked,” is on display inside the Chamber of Commerce, which once housed the Alatex headquarters.

The textile scenes will be the latest in a series of murals depicting the county’s history. As part of their commitment to the local exhibit, representatives of The Smithsonian will record narratives of each of the murals in the city that can be accessed by cell phone by local visitors.

Palmore, who was inspired several years ago to get murals painted here after she and Councilwoman Hazel Griffin and their husbands visited Chemainus in British Columbia, said that small town’s murals drew a half million tourists a year.

“We want ours to be even better,” she said.