More than six months after graffiti was sprayed in 20-foot high letters on the side of the Spiral Garage in downtown Fresno, crews removed the eyesore Wednesday morning.

The city rented an ultra boom crane from United Rentals which came from Arizona through the Bakersfield office. A crew of three, with three more there for training, took four hours to paint over the graffiti on the side of the elevator shaft of the parking garage at the corner of Inyo and Fulton streets.

A city spokeswoman estimated the total cost to clean at $6,000.

While it may never be known how the graffiti got on the side of the garage, the city speculated vandals broke onto the roof of the adjacent Gottschalks building and used Super Soakers or a similar device.

Difficult to Remove

GV Wire first reported the large graffiti on March 18. At the time, the city was unsure how to remove it because of the large size and hard-to-reach area.

Asked where this ranked in hard-to-clean graffiti, city spokeswoman Sontaya Rose answered “very difficult” in an email.

Securing the lift was problematic. The city crew used a 150-foot lift parked on Fulton Street. The road was closed between Inyo and Kern streets while the operation took place.

Finding an operator was another challenge. A worker normally in the street lights department operated the lift, while another worker used a long hose to spray standard, commercial grade exterior paint.

The city-owned garage is adjacent to the privately-owned former Gottschalks building. That building has been vacant for decades and is currently owned by a Southern California family.

Local developer Will Dyck previously told GV Wire he is partnering with the old Gottschalks owner to purchase the Spiral Garage and convert it into commercial and residential space.