The coal breakers that once dominated the Panther Valley skyline are long gone.

But a new colorful mural along Route 209 in Lansford is paying homage to the massive structures and anthracite history.

Lansford Alive commissioned a local artist to paint a mural along the 100 block of West Patterson Street.

Using a digital projector hooked to a laptop, artist Ryan Hnat took advantage of a warm summer evening to complete much of the work Wednesday night. On Thursday, as he touched up portions of the design, residents were impressed by the change.

“It really makes a big impact in the town. We wanted to do something on the highway,” said Chris Ondrus, president of Lansford Alive.

Hnat, a Coaldale native and Marian Catholic graduate, worked with Lansford Alive to come up with a design. It incorporates a likeness of a coal breaker like the Number 6, which once stood near the town.

Hnat is an art teacher who has painted murals in his adopted home of Scranton. He operates a company called Northeast Art Project, which connects artists with mural projects in cities and towns around Northeast Pennsylvania.

He was inspired to do a mural in Lansford to explore how art can help improve attitudes about a town.

“The arts can do wonderful things — it really can elevate an old community into a new community and really get people excited. I’ve been seeing a lot of people excited here in Lansford and I’m really pumped to see the overwhelming reception from the people in town,” he said.

Starting on Monday, he transformed a bland looking garage along Route 209 into a burst of color.

Hnat’s inspiration was to capture the sunset over the Panther Valley behind the massive coal breaker, a symbol of the thousands of miners who once worked and lived in the Panther Valley.

The idea for a mural in Lansford had been discussed for more than a year. Hnat and Ondrus were back and forth working on ideas.

“I had a lot of conversations with Chris Ondrus to help bring together an idea that they believed in and we went ahead and made it come to fruition,” Hnat said.

They originally picked the back of the Thankful Thrift store, facing Route 209.

They started an online fundraiser in hopes of engaging the community and paying an artist to do some of the work.

The road wasn’t easy, but Hnat and Lansford Alive persevered. The online fundraiser didn’t meet the goal. Without the money from the online fundraiser, it was too expensive to prepare the thrift store building to be painted.

Luckily, they found another garage a block away. It also provided good visibility for cars passing along Route 209.

On Thursday, cars slowed, people got out to take pictures, and others shouted compliments as they drove by.

“We got honked at several times, people said, ‘You look good and so does the mural.’ We’ve had a lot of people slow down. Had a local business stop by about possibly doing something on their wall,” Hnat said.