Aremodel of Astor Elementary School will cover up a mural featured in the 1990 action-comedy “Kindergarten Cop.”

While the movie does not have as rabid a following as the 1980s cult classic “The Goonies,” Astor Elementary, located in the same Uppertown neighborhood as the Goonies house, remains a draw to fans. People will sometimes stop to take pictures in front of the building, said Craig Hoppes, the Astoria school superintendent.

“Kindergarten Cop” celebrates its 30-year anniversary next year.

Over written objections by the artist who painted the original murals for the film company that produced “Kindergarten Cop,” the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission on Tuesday night approved the bulk of the Astoria School District’s plan. The remodel is tied to a $70 million bond voters passed in 2018 to modernize and improve schools across the district.

Still, many of the commissioners said they believe the mural is important. They recommended that the school district find some way of recording the art or preserving it elsewhere on school property.

The mural, located on the back of the school, prominently features a large giraffe. It may not be historical, but it has acquired cultural and social significance over the years, said Michelle Dieffenbach, the vice president of the commission.

It is a “public cultural issue,” and many children enrolled at the school over the years have memories of the mural, she said.

Hoppes plans to discuss the commission’s recommendation with the school board early next year. The school district took high-quality photos of the mural. Displaying the photos could be one option.

“We just haven’t decided what to do yet,” Hoppes said.

The Astor Elementary mural is “part of the tapestry that makes Astoria and Clatsop County incredibly rich with our film history,” said McAndrew Burns, the executive director of the Clatsop County Historical Society, which includes the Oregon Film Museum.

Burns also serves as president of the Historic Landmarks Commission. He recused himself from the hearing Tuesday.

He isn’t sure how the mural could be preserved but, as a representative of the film museum, Burns said “we’d certainly love to be a part of that conversation if and when it’s appropriate.”

Judith Niland, the artist, was vocal in her opposition to the school district’s plans to cover up the mural ahead of the city hearing. The artist and playwright, best known for her involvement with the Astor Street Opry Company, said even though she was commissioned to paint the mural for a film company, she was given a great deal of artistic freedom. The murals are a part of her legacy and she has restored them several times over the years, she said.

Arthritis would make it extremely difficult for her to do this kind of work now.

Niland recently spoke to the school district about restoring the mural again. “Am I ever going to have a chance to do something like this again?” she said, adding, “I couldn’t start over. I could re-create this one, but I’ll probably need help.”

“The other aspect is I think it brought a lot of joy to people and made a lot of kids happy. It gave them a memory.”