Franz Kline’s homage to Lehighton is leaving town. But its new owner, the Allentown Art Museum, is firmly committed to preserving the painting and the artist’s legacy.

“Lehighton,” an oil on canvas mural painted by the famed artist circa 1945, was recently sold. For 70 years, it hung above the bar at American Legion Post 314, where Kline painted the work.The Allentown Museum had an interest in having a work by a famous artist from our area, and one that vividly depicts the town where he spent his teenage years.“For us, the value of it of course is that it’s a Franz Kline, and an early Kline, and that it’s in good enough shape to restore,” said Chris Potash, the museum’s manager of marketing and public relations.“But also, being part of the Lehigh Valley community, it was a no-brainer for us to be seriously interested in keeping it here in the area.”On Wednesday, the museum invited the public to see the painting in its original setting one last time. In the coming days, professional art conservators will cover the painting to prepare for it to be removed and transported to Allentown.The exact sale price wasn’t available, however Potash said that as part of the terms, the museum will provide lectures, educational materials and a replica of the mural to be donated to the Lehighton Area School District.The Legion will also get its own replica which will hang in place of the mural.The conservator hired by the museum, Luca Bonetti, has installed and transported murals for famous artists. He said that there will be some challenge to removing the canvas, which was glued to a plaster wall, but it is not impossible.“Our goal is to prepare the painting in such a manner that it can be removed easily and safely,” he said.Most of that work, he said, will be done by hand.In some areas, water may be used to free the glue. However it should not damage the oil and canvas painting, Bonetti said.Bonetti said that gluing the painting to the wall could have actually helped protect against rips and punctures.“The painting is in relatively good condition,” he said. “Better than it would be on a canvas stretcher.”A handful of longtime residents were there to share stories about the painting.Gordon Ripkey talked about how clearly the painting depicts town landmarks like Zion Church, and the Third Ward School, buildings which still stand today. It also depicts the town’s downtown park, with what Ripkey identified as a bulletin board carrying the names of all Lehighton residents who served in World War II.“People should know that,” he said. “Just how patriotic they were to recognize those men and women.”Ripkey pointed out that Kline signed the painting by placing his initials and a heart just above 300 S. Ninth St., his mother’s home.Kline was born in 1910 in Wilkes-Barre, and attended Lehighton High School.He completed the painting before becoming famous for his abstract works, which have been sold for millions of dollars and hang in some of the world’s most famous museums. He died in 1962.The painting primarily shows a slightly stylized version of the town, as viewed from a hill overlooking the Lehigh River.A steam train roars in from the upper left-hand side of the painting, following the river. In the top right, the river can be seen disappearing into the Lehigh Gap.In the foreground of the painting, Kline included the Carbon County Airport, with a particularly realistic plane flying overhead. He also painted the grandstands of the bygone Lehighton Fairgrounds.“It’s exciting to be a part of that cultural heritage, which is also part of the Lehigh Valley’s cultural heritage” Potash said.“The coal was mined here, it was taken to the Lehigh Valley on the railroad, which Kline’s dad worked and was made into steel in the Lehigh Valley.”