In plain sight: Cape works to keep public spaces free of graffiti

Mike Pruitt started his morning Tuesday as he often does -- a four-mile trek that includes a lengthy stretch along the banks of the scenic Mississippi River.

Unfortunately for the Cape Girardeau resident, he also had to see what he often does -- graffiti along the river side of the floodwall that contained drug references, off-color comments and crude drawings.

"It's appalling and this isn't even the worst of it," said Pruitt, a Spartech employee who recently moved back to his hometown after several years away. "You see it in larger cities, but this stuff isn't even inspiring. It's constantly there. If I were a tourist, I wouldn't want to see this."

Keeping public places free of graffiti is a constant struggle, city officials say, but one that they said is important so visitors and residents don't have to have to be jarred by swear words, sexual images or gibberish that likely means little except to those who drew it.

Such graffiti goes up often overnight in spray-paint or chalk in places like River Walk Trail, the sidewalks of the Cape LaCroix Recreational Trail and in park bathrooms across town.

Aaron Chapman with the City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department rolls a layer of gray paint over fresh graffiti Tuesday morning on the east side of the floodwall in downtown Cape Girardeau. The department checks the floodwall every morning for new graffiti. (Laura Simon)

"It's always unfortunate when someone puts graffiti on public property like that," said Julia Thompson, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department. "I don't know if they're trying to get attention or what."

The parks department works diligently, Thompson said, to keep the problem to a minimum. Employees check those places regularly to ensure that residents and visitors don't have to see it, she said. No cost estimates were available, but Thompson said it takes many man-hours as well as the cost of the paint to cover it up.

"Of course, I'd rather our employees be working on something other than this and I would hope we wouldn't have to do it," Thompson said. "But when it's there we feel like it's important to get it covered or removed as quickly as possible."

On Tuesday morning, parks employees Michael Kaempfer and Aaron Chapman cruised along the River Walk Trail in a city truck with an eye out for graffiti. It didn't take long for them to find some: A chalk drawing of a mushroom with the words "eat me" above it and a reference to smoking marijuana. The remnants of past graffiti were there, painted splotches all up and down the interior of the floodwall.

Some of the graffiti in the past ranges from the tame -- flowers and love poems -- to crassly drawn pictures of genitalia and personal attacks.

But ask Kaempfer what was the worst graffiti he's ever seen and he's quick to answer: "Words. Nasty words."

As the weather warms, the problem will likely get worse, Chapman said, perhaps even being on the floodwall every day.

Kaempfer points out that some of the graffiti is done by people with talent. Still, he doesn't believe it has any place on public property.

Others said that some graffiti ought to be left in place if it truly appears to be artistic, including Southeast Missouri State University sophomore Peter Obermeyer. Obermeyer also was walking along the River Walk Trail on Tuesday morning. Some of the work is harmless, he said.

"But other times I get it that the graffiti can be profane and have objectionable material," he said. "Some people ruin it for everybody."

The issue came to light publicly again in January, when Parks and Recreation Advisory Board chairman Troy Vaughn brought it up at a meeting. He exercises regularly along the floodwall and noticed a lot had accumulated over the winter.

"I don't know if there's good graffiti and bad graffiti, but this was bad graffiti," Vaughn said. "There were things I would not want my kids to see."

The River Walk is a "showcase" for the community, he said, that will only become more visible after the new Isle of Capri casino opens this fall.

After he brought it up, he said, Thompson told him there is a plan in place for city workers to monitor the places frequently and remove it as quickly as possible. There are no security cameras in place on the River Walk. Vaughn said he also wanted to see if there were ways to dissuade the perpetrators from doing it, but those options were limited.

"The only way to do that is to lock those areas off and you don't want to do that," he said. "Why do people do it? I have no idea. I just wish people had more sense. It does detract from what we're trying to do."

Catching such individuals for what is also known as tagging can be difficult, said Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Darin Hickey. Two recent cases included the Civil War monument on the grounds of the Common Pleas Courthouse and on a mural on the downtown floodwall. Charges have not been filed in either of those cases.

The culprits often work at night, he said. Still, police occasionally will catch someone in the act or someone will admit to doing it, Hickey said. Those who are caught face a charge of property damage, though if the damage exceeds $750, it rises to a felony.

But those who do mark up public property should be warned.

"Our patrol officers are out there 24-7," Hickey said. "It's just one of the multiple crimes they're out there watching for."

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