Graffiti cleaned from Albany Welcome Center building

ALBANY — Officials with the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau have removed graffiti that was placed on the side of the Albany Welcome Center in downtown Albany following Mardi Gras festivities.

Rashelle Beasley, director of the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she was informed of some graffiti on the side of the building facing the Flint RiverQuarium, which apparently was done Saturday night or early Sunday.

“I didn’t see it firsthand. I was just called,” she said. “It was already cleaned up by the time I got there.”

Beasley said Phil Cannon and Tommy Gregors, both with the Better Albany Group, were the ones who cleaned it up. Phyllis Banks, spokeswoman for the Albany Police Department, said a police report was not filed in connection to the vandalism.

“There’s nothing to report now (because it has been cleaned up),” Beasley said.

Beasley said she has not been informed of any leads on who may have done it, but the bigger picture is about keeping the city’s buildings clean and nice for those visiting the Albany area, she said.

“It’s not about who did it … we want to make sure people don’t think they can write on the walls and think its OK,” she said. “It’s an historic building … we’ve been in the building for eight years, and we’ve never had an incident like this.

“These types of things happen in other cities, but it is not tolerated.”

The welcome center, headquartered in what was once known as the Bridge House, was built in 1858.