NORTHRIDGE >> In recent weeks, retiree Linda Dowdy watched with delight as the “Zelzah Train Depot” mural began to take shape on a side wall of a CD shop on Reseda Boulevard near her home.

She had recently met the muralist, Tim Cornelius, and knew she had to come Sunday for the unveiling on Rayen Street — the first here since Los Angeles’ ban on new murals was lifted on Aug. 28 of last year.

“I think it really adds to the atmosphere of Northridge,” said Dowdy, who is also a painter. “I never thought I would see the day it would start to get character here.”

The colorful mural was made possible by a partnership between the Northridge Sparkle Campaign, a grassroots organization formed five years ago to beautify Reseda Boulevard, and the Museum of the San Fernando Valley, which recently found a new home in Northridge.

The mural, which is painted on the side of Orphaned CDs, is the first in 11 historically themed pieces of art envisioned for Northridge’s Reseda Boulevard as part of a broader community effort to revitalize the city’s main business corridor.

Reseda Boulevard — from Parthenia to Plummer — is also one of 15 local neighborhoods recently designated by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for his Great Streets Initiative, which aims to turn this corridor into a more business and pedestrian-friendly district, said Andrea Alvarado, chairwoman of Northridge Sparkle.

“It’s not just a mural in the right place at the right time but it’s significant because it’s the community getting together to do this to make sure this is a bigger part of the Village at Northridge that’s been established by the community in conjunction with home owners, businesses, neighborhood council,” Councilman Mitchell Englander said. “Everyone has really come together.”

The Sparkle Campaign held a historical art show in May of last year in which a variety of paintings were considered for future murals once the ban was lifted. Cornelius’ painting, which is inspired by images of historic Northridge, was the first to be picked. Cornelius, a former San Fernando Valley resident, spent three weeks painting “Zelzah Train Depot” — a reference to what Northridge was once called — working hard to balance the mural’s bright oranges, yellows, and blues just so.

It seemed natural to paint it in the style of a fruit crate label, he said, since Northridge was rich in orange groves and the community once had its own such label. When Cornelius found out about the importance of the Southern Pacific Station train depot, which was razed in the early 1960s, he had to include it since his father, an amateur but very talented artist, loves to paint trains and train stations, he said. The mural is a homage to his father, he said.

Willard Simms, a board member of the Museum of the San Fernando Valley and its education director, said he was excited about the historical lessons such artwork could teach.

“I want people to be open to the past and not just think about what’s going to happen in two years — but bring the traditions of the past into the now,” he said.

Fourth-generation Northridge resident Don Larson, who is among the leaders of Northridge Sparkle, said he finds the mural’s scene to be comforting.

“I was born in ’52, and in ’52 it did look like that still,” he said, gazing at the mural under a hot sun. “The railroad station was still there. It motivates me to work (for his community.) This is my home. This is my backyard and my family has been here 100 years.”