Time is up for the owners of an old building that’s covered in graffiti in downtown Miami.
On Tuesday, the city’s code enforcement board voted not to give the owner any more extensions to clean up the graffiti at the former VITAS building.
Members of the board called the building an eyesore.
“It looks like the because they allowed it to be open season on their structure,” Assistant City Attorney Rachel Dooley said. “For over a year, including all last year holiday, this is what the entire world sees of the city of Miami.”
“We don’t want to give you any more time for scaffolding,” board member Keon Williams said. “We want the thing covered or painted and it should’ve already been done for the better part of the year.”
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo held a news conference Tuesday asking the owners to paint over the artwork before the New Year’s Eve celebration at Bayfront Park.
“That’s not the image we want for Miami,” Carollo said.
There are plans to demolish the building. Carollo claims the owners are dragging out the process.
“This is a joke,” Carollo said. “How could you get away with something like this in a major city like Miami?”
Leaders representing the downtown and Brickell areas feel the same.
“It’s not just downtown, it’s the entire city of Miami,” President of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance James Torres said. “If this is happening here, imagine where else it could happen.”
“Not in over a year painting, covering up, doing anything to remove this graffiti is quite frankly unforgivable,” Dooley said.