HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – Graffiti that has covered a vacant building in Hartford is now in the process of getting removed.
The graffiti has been visible to thousands of drivers on Interstate 84 each day.
Removing the graffiti is going to cost the owner about $30,000. It’s going to take three weeks for it to be completely removed.
Some residents said the building has been vacant for far too long.
“I looked out my window from the seventh floor and it just looked like white patches, and I went what’s going on there?” said Louisa Barton-Duguay of Hartford.
It’s a sight that’s hard to miss: swaths of red and white graffiti covering parts of a vacant 15-story building on Sigourney Street.
The graffiti is easily visible from the highway.
“It’s deplorable. It’s just like an eyesore as you are coming into Hartford and leaving Hartford,” said Hartford City Councilman TJ Clarke.
“Their message is very unclear. So I don’t know what they’re trying to talk about,” said Barton-Duguay.
The building was once a state office building but has been vacant for several years and is currently owned by Spartan Tower LLC.
After the LLC initially failed to remove the graffiti, the city started fining the owner $1,500 daily.
“If we are expecting our residents who own single family, multifamily houses to abide by the municipal code, then commercial property owners should do the same,” Clarke said.
After weeks of inaction, the owner will pay about $30,000 to remove the graffiti off the building.
The company “Off the Wall” has been contracted and it’ll take crews about three weeks to finish the job.
“Hartford will no longer to continue to be some type of dumping ground or just be disrespected because it has been done for so long,” said Clarke.
The owner is also paying for private security to patrol the building on a daily basis.
Residents like Barton-Duguay want to see the building put to use.
“Either it be rehabbed or taken down. Some use be made of it,” Barton Duguay said.
It’s unclear who is behind the graffiti and how they got all the way up the building.
The property owner is now considered to be in compliance with the City of Hartford’s orders.
Eyewitness news reached out to the building owner for a comment but did not hear back.
Work is now underway to clear the graffiti.
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