ALLEGANY, N.Y. — The Burton business in downtown Allegany has always welcomed St. Bonaventure University students, alumni and fans who want to show their enthusiasm for the college’s teams.

Over the past several days, the restaurant and bar business took that enthusiasm a step further with the painting of a large mural depicting the St. Bonaventure wolf mascot on the side of the East Main Street business.

Manager Dan Gleason said the owners of the business, who are alumni of the university, were in favor of having the logo painted.

Gleason said work on the mural, created by the Vivid Buffalo company, has been ongoing by painters for the past week and included the addition of a cream-colored base coat on the brick building.

Gleason said he and all the employees as well as the patrons like the new design because they’re all “Bonas’ fans.”

Customer Gary Davis, who is one of those fans, said the mural is very much appreciated by residents in the community.

“I’ve loved Bonas since Bob Lanier, I used to hang out with him,” Davis said of the Bonaventure basketball legend who played at the college in the late 1960s and 1970 before going on to become a professional basketball player. “And if you live around here, you like Bonas … I also really like Mark Schmidt, the basketball coach.”

Tom Missel, chief communications officer at the university, also weighed in on St. Bonaventure’s latest sign of fan loyalty in the community.

“As the head marketing guy who drives by it every day on his way to work, I love to see it,” Missel said of the mural. “The alumni who purchased The Burton a couple years ago are passionate about their alma mater and anything I see that helps promote the Bonaventure brand is fine by me.”

In addition to being a favorite tavern for St. Bonaventure students and alumni, The Burton was also voted as producing the best burgers in upstate New York by readers of upstatenewyork.com in 2016.