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A campaign has been launched to make downtown Prince George graffiti free.
Anyone who sees a tag or a scrawl on the side of a building is urged to contact the City by calling 311, sending an email to 311@princegeorge.ca or send a message the through City of Prince George mobile app.
From there, a crew from GroundWorkPG, an employment training program provided through a local social agency, will be called out to paint over the item.
Downtown Prince George executive director Colleen Van Mook said she has seen more graffiti in the last 18 months than in the previous five years and not just in the alleyways but also on doorways and doorsteps and other "creative places."
Van Mook said the program will help businesses who can't quickly get to the task of dealing with the graffiti themselves.
"It's more a cover up program where we're trying to cover up the graffiti and property owners that want to go further and paint their full walls, that'll be their responsibility," Van Mook added.
Prince George RCMP Cst. Jennifer Cooper said it's good to deal with the graffiti as quickly as possible.
“Prompt attention to removing or covering graffiti is important to decrease the possibility of vandals ‘adding on’ and contributes to the best outcome of the discontinuation of graffiti,” Cooper said.
Places where graffiti but no suspects are found can also be reported through the detachment's online reporting tool at https://ocre-sielc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/princegeorge.
Meanwhile, the last of the Summerfest Saturdays is coming up - this time with a focus on cyclists.
A bike valet will be available at Cycle Logic, 1443 Third Ave., where volunteers will also be on hand to register bikes in the 529 Garage anti-theft program. The prize for that day is a $500 gift certificate from Cycle Logic.
Previous themes were patios, special deals and dogs with the Summerfest Saturdays being held in lieu of a full-fledged Summerfest due to the pandemic.
"It's actually been going quite nicely," Van Mook said. "I think we've achieved what we hoped...people have been looking to reconnect socially and I think we've provided the opportunity."
In contrast to the previous Saturdays, warm sunny weather is in the forecast for the Saturday coming up.
