Portneuf Wellness Complex cleaned up after extensive graffiti mess
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Zane Hopen, KPVI
POCATELLO — Near the end of January, two local juveniles were arrested for tagging the Portneuf Wellness Complex with spray painted words and images all the way across the back wall.
Those juveniles were arrested and charged, and just last week they went before the Bannock County staff and apologized for their actions.
“They didn’t have to do that, and they did it. And I think both Commissioner Brown and Commissioner Tovey gave them some good, sound advice on their actions and how to proceed in life,” said Bannock County director of facilities and events Aaron Greenwell.
But there was still a mess at the complex, a big mess that Greenwell says to his knowledge, isn’t comparable to any other action done by kids in the past.
And that’s where Elite Restoration stepped in, a local company that has only been in the area for about two years, and even they were blown away by the damage done.
“This was definitely the most, the biggest one I have been a part of myself,” said Richie Turnbeaugh, Pocatello area manager for Elite Restoration.
The magnitude of the graffiti as well as the weather played into the time it took to get this cleanup done, but (Thursday) after three months, the project was finished. And both sides are thrilled with how it turned out.
“We were actually blown away with how happy they were and my lead guy that was taking care of it called me immediately and told me just how excited he was with how thrilled they were with the end results,” said Turnbeaugh.
“We’re really happy with the contractors and the work they had done with the restoration. They were able to get the majority of everything off without leaving a residual of the spray paint,” said Greenwell.
Greenwell says that while they are a tax-funded organization, this kind of case is above the usual maintenance for facilities, so it was paid for through an insurance claim.
The county has already received numerous calls about the job done in cleaning it up, and even just today people were out and enjoying the restored look.
This article was originally published by KPVI. It is used here with permission.