A conglomeration of multi-colored walls along Coral Way now has a new look.
Between SW 122nd and 147th avenues, county work crews went to work in February applying a common beige color that erased both mold and eye-sore graffiti from aging wall areas said to be “the worst found in West Kendall” after inspection tours by District 11 Commissioner Juan Zapata’s staff.
Their new color tone is a Sherwin-Williams product called “Kulim Beige,” according to Ingrid M. Gonzalez, Zapata’s aide, who assisted with the project and took before and after photographs (published with this story).
“We’re doing the public right of way on main roads, particularly those walls not being maintained by a special taxing district or homeowner association,” she explained.
“We started on Coral Way because we’re doing major road resurfacing and landscaping there, and we counted more than 58 different existing wall colors — one of the worst main corridors in the county.”
While the county can undertake painting on public rights of way on main roads, it must get approval of property owners or homeowner associations to undertake any improvement to private property.
To accomplish the Coral Way project, property owners in some instances were asked to buy the paint to assure uniformity. Every wall area had a pressure cleaning and primer coat before the sandylike color was permanently applied.
Upon his election, Commissioner Zapata said he would embark on a program to put West Kendall on the map through a combination of economic, infrastructure improvements and citizen participation to develop goals and strategies, including polishing up the area’s appearance.
“Homeowners who might have been a little hesitant about having us repaint the walls are embracing the uniformity because they see the big picture,” Gonzalez said, adding that it isn’t the intent of the county to paint every wall the same color throughout Miami- Dade but to encourage uniformity when repainting becomes necessary on adjacent areas.
