More graffiti vandalism hit the Palisades this week, and the victim was the idyllic Clearwater Mural painted on the north side of the Sav-on building on Swarthmore. (See related graffiti story, p. 5.) Palisadian Stuart Muller, who conceived of the panoramic scene to serve as a backdrop to the Village Green, was dismayed to find a 10-ft.-long section of the mural defaced by several different types of graffiti tags with various names, styles and lettering near the loading dock. In an e-mail to the Palisadian-Post Wednesday morning, Muller included a photo and said: ‘I discovered this vandalism yesterday in an area behind the storage container that was placed in front of the mural during the recent remodeling of the interior of Sav-on. I don’t have a clue who put this stuff on, but my suspects are skateboarders and/or high school students who hang around that area daily. ‘The premises are also used as a hangout at night by taggers. It’s their clubhouse (the rooftop parking lot and walkway to the public parking lot leading to the Washington Mutual building).’ Stylized bubble writing similar to that painted across the mural is also apparent on the rooftop. Muller said he was tired of waiting for Sav-on to remove the graffiti. ‘Sav-on has done little to keep up with the onslaught. That Sav-on would leave graffiti on the Coke machine at their main entrance for over half a year is symbolic of their disinterest in the upkeep of the exterior of their facility.’ Fortunately, the mural is protected with anti-graffiti coating, so the graffiti tags ‘should be removable,’ according to Muller, who added that ‘the Clearwater Mural Maintenance Fund (under PRIDE’s auspices) could use some donations. PRIDE’s efforts to get Sav-on to clean up their act have been fruitless, so I’m renewing my effort.’
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