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Carlstadt Mayor Won't Allow Part Of Iconic Paramus Mural To Go On Display

PARAMUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The mayor of Carlstadt is refusing to let pieces of an old mural from the Alexander's department store go on public display.

He claims it's a matter of protecting the artwork.

As WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported, the Stefan Knapp mural was an icon of the Paramus landscape.

Carlstadt Mayor Won't Allow Part Of Iconic Paramus Mural To Go On Display

The mural was gifted to the Bergen Museum and then stored in Carlstadt for a few decades. That's where Mayor William Roseman is holding on to some of the 280 panels.

"All I want from them is a document, a legal document, that says that it will not be sold," he said.

Roseman said the mural should be preserved for the people of Bergen County.

"My intention was never to sell it. I think that's what he thought we were gonna do. But it's really not up to him," said museum president James Waldron.

The museum owns the mural. Most of it has been moved to an art space in an old mill in Paterson, where it will soon be on display, at least part of it.

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