Southeast sorority will clean graffiti from Cape's floodwall

Visitors of Cape Girardeau's Riverfront Park know the anonymous works of art scrawled on the floodwall's plain concrete panels can make for an interesting trip along the river walk.

While some of the messages and images are positive -- or non-offensive at the least -- the same can't be said of some of the other drawings applied with chalk or spray paint.

That's why Southeast Missouri State University sorority Zeta Phi Beta decided to do some sprucing up along the river wall as part of its next act of community service, dubbed Project Riverfront Cleanup. Secretary Haley Ellison said focusing on that particular area seemed like an obvious choice for many reasons.

"The riverfront is so popular here in Cape, and many people go down there to walk around," she said. "Sometimes there's a lot of graffiti on the walls and provocative images kids shouldn't be seeing."

From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, the sorority plans to remove as much of the graffiti as it can. Anything that doesn't come off will be covered with a positive image, said Ellison.

Brock Davis, parks division manager with the city's Parks and Recreation Department, said cleanup efforts by fraternities, sororities and other service groups always are welcome.

"With 23 parks and over 600 acres of land to take care of, anything helps," he said.

When community groups volunteer their time in any of the city's parks, he said that helps free city crews to take care of other work. Time spent on tasks such as graffiti cleanup can add up quickly.

"Graffiti, for us, is an issue weekly, if not daily, somewhere on our parks, trails, downtown or along the river -- wherever," Davis said.

This is the first time Zeta Phi Beta has turned its focus to the riverfront area, Ellison said, though the group might return in the future if it sees a positive response to the cleanup efforts. Members try to do a community service project every month and try to add some variety to each project.

"That's our motto: 'a community conscious action oriented organization,'" she said. "So we're trying to make our community a better place for everyone to live, and we think that's a key place to start, since the riverfront is so popular."

srinehart@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Water Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.