The buildings at the Scotts Recreation Center bear witness to an increasing gang graffiti problem.
A variety of gang symbols and profanity-laced graffiti were painted on the center's two brick buildings.
That graffiti is gone now, thanks to a collaboration of volunteer efforts to remove an eyesore from a center that includes swings and a soccer field.
Iredell County Sheriff's Office gang officer Sgt. Chris Pitts said the center was one of the top problem spots for graffiti in the county.
Last week, Pitts was joined by two teenagers from Project Challenge and its coordinator, Amberle Gowan, county recreation employees and two inmate work crews from the Iredell County Detention Center to remove the graffiti.
Project Challenge is a juvenile community service and restitution program.
The removal of the gang graffiti is part of the Statesville-Iredell Gang Initiative (SIGI), a program funded by the state that provides resources for law enforcement to fight the growing gang problem.
Sheriff Phil Redmond said Pitts has conducted inspections in various places around the county to find graffiti, and then put the resources in place to remove it.
"This is an eyesore," Redmond said Wednesday as he looked at the graffiti at the recreation center.
Pitts said many of the supplies for the graffiti removal were donated. Behr, a paint company, Home Depot, Big Lots, Lowe's Home Improvement and Americlean all provided supplies for the project, he said.
Gowan said involving the two teens from her program is a way for them to give back and to teach them the consequences of actions such as painting graffiti.
"We're glad to be able to come out and help get this cleaned up," she said.
Gowan and her two helpers used brushes to apply a paint-loosening chemical on the walls of the buildings.
Later, when the two inmate crews arrived, Gowan and the two teens moved on to painting over the graffiti on one wall.
"This is a place where people gather and kids play, and it's an eyesore," she explained. "We're helping make it a place where people can come and enjoy themselves."
Pitts said this is just one of a series of graffiti-removal projects that will take place in the coming weeks.
He said the addition of the Project Challenge kids is a great help.
"We are glad there are resources out there to help us," he said.
Want more?
For more information on the Iredell-Statesville Gang Initiative (SIGI) or to help with projects, call Sgt. Chris Pitts at (704) 928-4664 or community resource coordinator Victoria Harris at (704) 902-2529. To learn about or partner with Project Challenge, call Amberle Gowan at (704) 878-4247.
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