College Parkway graffiti to be cleaned up

Volunteers and community service workers will tackle graffiti on College Parkway today.

Claudia Saavedera, alternative sentencing community service coordinator, said 10 court-ordered workers will be assisting volunteer Elroy "Buz" Devoll of Bizzy Buzzy Painting and members of the ESTIL-LOW car club to pressure wash and then paint two sound walls between Northgate Lane and Carson Street that have been bombarded by taggers in recent weeks.

"We have a big project, and I'm so happy," said Saavedra who, as the city's community service coordinator, is also in charge of the graffiti abatement program.

Saavedra said Devoll contacted her office and asked if he could help with the problem by getting with homeowners behind the walls and asking to use their water for the pressure washing. Saavedra said he also requested 10 workers to help paint the two 300-yard-long walls. The car club has worked with Saavedra on other graffiti clean-up projects.

Saavedra's only hurdle was she didn't have the 60 gallons of paint needed to get the job done. With a graffiti budget of just $5,000, she went about trying to solicit donations.

"I went to different places in town and they treated me like a third-class citizen," she said laughing. "Then finally I went to Sherwin Williams. It's one of the smallest places in town and they went right away and said they would give me the paint."

Saavedra said one of the benefits of painting the wall, aside from removing the gang graffiti, is that the paint will be the same color used for touch ups, making it easier and less notable when the need arises to combat its inevitable reappearance.

"That wall is visible to everyone," Saavedra said. "This will make our town look better."

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.