People who drive along Prospect Avenue see a lot of graffiti. And those living along the roadway say there’s so much graffiti in the area that people can actually see it being outlined and then filled in the next day, and no one seems to be able to catch who is doing it. But now, the city is taking action, with a new program in the works to clean it all up. Greater Kansas City LISC is partnering with the city to paint over the graffiti. The city also has a chemical that can be used to remove it. Another way to deter criminals from vandalism in the first place is to create murals along Prospect Avenue. Many say cleaning up the buildings will attract more people and businesses to the area, helping it thrive.
Graffiti doesn’t stand a chance in one Kansas City neighborhood as a community group puts in new efforts to paint over the work of vandals along the Prospect Corridor. This part of Kansas City has one of the highest crime rates in the metro – along with a high number of vacant and abandoned buildings, and graffiti just adds to the blight and causes many to move away from the area. But, that’s about to change.
A group of community leaders recently purchased a gas-powered paint sprayer to get rid of graffiti and in the last couple of months, they’ve used it to paint over graffiti at three different spots along the Prospect Corridor. Many homes and businesses in the inner city have been victimized by street artists over the years, and their creative work can sometimes come across as vulgar or obscene. It can be expensive and challenging to remove the graffiti, taking hours as crews use brushes and rollers to paint over it. This new paint sprayer will save time and money. It’s being paid for by a federal grant from the Justice Department, given to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC for short.