The drab grey concrete of Mt Melville’s iconic “spark plug” is slated for a makeover, with an esteemed local mural artist preparing the structure for a poignant new look.

Glenn Hegedus, of Archetype Projects, was first commissioned by the City of Albany in 2024 to create Signal, a new artwork for the tower in honour of the city’s bicentenary.

He said redesigning the landmark was a privilege he did not take lightly.

“The tower has stood on Kardarup, Mt Melville, for decades, and most people in Albany have grown up with it on the skyline,” he said.

“People have their own sentiments, memories and stories connected to it, too.

“I’m not trying to make it something else — the architectural form stays exactly as it is — what changes is the surface, and the way the structure holds light and colour against the sky and the bush around it.

“The idea behind Signal is simple: a tower built for transmission, turned toward listening.

“There’s something compelling about taking a structure designed to send information outward and using it to explore what it means to receive, acknowledge and make space for different voices.”

The three-tiered observation tower was built in 1977 as communications tower and offers unrivalled 360-degree views across the city and surrounding waters of Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound and nearby islands.

It once housed a kiosk that served drinks and snacks, but has been intermittently shuttered over recent years due to vandalism and antisocial behaviour.

The first job on the agenda is cleaning the concrete from decades of dirt, grime and graffiti that coat it and priming the surface.

Hegedus will then go in with Keim Concretal-Lasur, a mineral silicate stain that bonds with the concrete substrate but allows the texture and character to remain visible.

The colour palette will be more muted than the bright pops he used on the Albany Ring Road project, with Hegedus taking inspiration from the “granite, sky, water, weathered concrete and the atmospheric conditions up there”.

Depth of colour will be built via layering pigments over the tower’s cylindrical walls, circular decks and elevations and working up to the top.

“Signal has been developed by listening to people who hold very different relationships to this place, and the bicentenary isn’t a simple story for everyone,” he said.

“A loud, declarative image on such a prominent structure could easily have spoken over those perspectives.

“The quieter visual language leaves room for them.”

City of Albany mayor Greg Stocks said he hoped the project would foster a “strong sense of local pride”.

“The Mt Melville Communications Tower is an iconic part of Albany’s landscape, and Signal is an exciting opportunity to transform a familiar piece of infrastructure into something that reflects our community and our place,” he said.

“Albany 2026 is about reflecting on what makes our city unique while creating opportunities for local people to contribute to this significant year.

“Allowing local creative talent to reimagine such a prominent Albany landmark brings together art, place and community in a way that creates connection and a strong sense of local pride.”

Final concept designs are being kept secret for now, but the artist said they were formulated via conversations with elders, Menang artists, youth workers, local authors, cultural practitioners and city officers.

“The finished artwork will not illustrate individual stories or identities,” he said.

“It will reflect an emotional register that emerges through listening.

“What’s particularly interesting is seeing the composition begin to respond to the architecture at full scale.

“There’s a difference between designing for a structure and actually working within it, the curvature, changing light, surface texture and surrounding landscape all influence decisions as the work progresses.”

Hegedus expects the installation to take about six weeks, depending on the weather.