MARGATE – Police have arrested two 14-year-old Ventnor juveniles in connection with the gang-style graffiti spray-painted on the outside wall at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School.
The cleanup job that followed was completed by the maintenance crew from the Tighe School, Marcelino Landron, Frank Reale and Derrick Mikson, not public works employees, as previously reported. The school was closed for spring break, and the three were called in to work Friday, April 6 to remove the offensive spray paint from the walls.
“We had to wait until the county and the local police officers came to check it out before we could remove it. The superintendent wanted it removed as quickly as possible,” said Landron, the maintenance supervisor at the school.
“We rented a sandblaster, and it took about 10 hours to clean off the 300 square feet that was painted. One portion had to be painted to cover it up because of where it was, near the Performing Arts Center. We could not blast there. It took going over it a second and a third time to get it clean,” Landron said.
He said the crew used roughly 16,000 pounds of sand in a blaster that has a compressor operating under 150 pounds of pressure. The sand is fed into the machine and then blasted onto the surface to get the paint off.
“You have to be real careful with this equipment, it can be dangerous,” said Landron. He said it takes three people to operate the equipment safely: one using the sprayer, one regulating the pressure, and one who controls the cutoff for safety.
Landron said the Tighe School has exterior cameras positioned on the building, and he thinks they are a big help. -- Suzanne Marino TOP
