South Philly's Rizzo mural painted over

The 9th Street Italian Market, South Philly scene of family feuds and mob violence, is now the center of a political cover-up.

But fear not, you purveyors of fine cured meats and purchasers of fresh-made mozzarella. The mural of Frank L. Rizzo, the late police commissioner and two-term mayor, will soon return.

The Rizzo mural, which showed him in front of the market's curbside stalls, was covered over this week for repairs to the wall, according to Jane Golden, executive director of the Mural Arts Program.

The mural was painted in 1995 and restored in 1999.

Golden said the wall on which the mural was painted at 910 S. 9th St. was in "terrible condition." The original artist, Diane Keller, is doing the restoration, which will begin after the stucco work has cured. The Mural Arts Program restores about 30 murals a year.

Councilman Frank S. Rizzo, the late mayor's son, helped raise funds for the mural project. "It's been a long time and it really needed some work," Rizzo said of his father's mural. "They're going to refresh it."