This photo (or, rather, the photo shown in this photo) was taken by Jim Marcus, "Cleveland's photo hobo",
It's clearly not exactly how I remembered, but the last time I saw it I was maybe ten or eleven. We still don't have any information as to who painted it or why, but it is definitive proof that a giant mural of Batman did indeed exist in Cleveland in the 1970s.
Any insights, acknowledgements or anecdotes about it would be appreciated.