It’s an extreme makeover no one really wanted.

A bungled improvement project in a laneway near Ossington Street and Queen Street West has left more than 20 garages that were once brightly painted with local street art blackened over — and some angry neighbours and artists.

The Laneway Project, a non-profit dedicated to transforming the city’s laneways into more vibrant spaces, wanted to make the alley a bit brighter. But, due to a mix-up the non-profit blames on a third party hired to oversee the painting process, the garages belonging to homes on Brookfield Street now feature the letters of the alphabet against a black backdrop, erasing art such as fairies and cartoon characters without the permission of all of the homeowners.

Resident Tony Ferreira said he did give permission for the graffiti on his garage to be painted over, but “it wasn’t supposed to be like that, all black.”

He was never shown the plans, he said, and he returned from Portugal a few weeks ago to find “a mess.”

“I thought it was terrible,” he said, adding it makes the street even darker at night. “I was surprised, they did the whole thing and it looked pretty bad.”

Work by graffiti artist ROCK, near Ossington Ave. and Queen St W., which has since been painted over. Isabel Teotonio/Toronto Star File photo

The Rock's artwork, as it appears now. Richard Lautens/Toronto Star

Ferreira has since had his garage (the D) repainted through The Laneway Project. But the rest of the alphabet and the dark background still stands.

The project’s co-founder and executive director Michelle Senayah said they’re “profoundly regretful” about what happened.

A third-party contractor was hired to complete the project, and did not follow clear instructions, she said.

The alphabet was painted by London, U.K., artist Ben Eine in his signature block style. But only four of the garages — where owners had given permission — were supposed to be painted, not the whole laneway, according to Senayah.

“We were adding new murals to supplement what was already there, not painting over and certainly not in black,” she said.

Senayah declined to name the contractor but said they’ve been fired. Eine did not respond to a request for comment.

“I’m just completely floored by what happened,” she added. “This is exactly the opposite of what we wanted.”

The laneway had been identified by the Ossington BIA as one that could “maybe merit being turned into a bit safer, more sort of people friendly space,” said Senayah.

Moving forward, they’ll work with property owners to clean up the paint job, and those who give permission will have the option to have the work painted over yet again.

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“We’re also going to be organizing for local artists, with the artists who had their murals painted over given the right of first refusal,” Senayah said.

“This happened contrary to our instructions, however we’re aware that we’re the project lead and it’s our responsibility and obviously our wish to make this right properly.”

The Laneway Project gets some of its funding from Section 37 money, the clause in Ontario’s Planning Act that lets developers trade community benefits for zoning variances. But funds for the Ossington project came from a combination of grants and sponsorships, she added.

Work by graffiti artist EGR, as seen on Aug. 12, 2012. ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE/Toronto Star file photo

EGR's artwork has since been covered over. Richard Lautens/Toronto Star

Local graffiti artist Erin Zimerman, also known as Rock, was one of the artists who had their work covered up. He said he did his colourful cartoon character design back in 2012 at a co-ordinated event with other artists when the whole laneway was painted. It’s now a hot pink “M” with a bit of the original design peeking out.

“I’ve been painting graffiti for 25 years and when you go to another city to paint something, you want to check in with the local community of artists and make sure you’re not ruffling any feathers,” he said.

“So it’s a big F-U to the whole scene.”

He’s open to participating in repainting the original graffiti art, but would also personally like an apology from the people who “messed up.”

Senayah said they’ve “learned a lot of hard lessons,” and she knows people are “rightfully angry about it.”

“But we just ask them to recognize this is not what we instructed to happen,” she said. “And we’re trying to make it better.”

Senayah said she does not have a price tag for the repainting of the garages, as it’s a moving figure.

Garage owner Ferreira said he was given a letter from the non-profit estimating a price range of $25,000 to $30,000, but Senayah said the cost has come down “quite a bit” since the initial estimate.

"I'm just completely floored by what happened," says The Laneway Project executive director Michelle Senayah. "This is exactly the opposite of what we wanted." Richard Lautens/Toronto Star

Resident Silvereio Raboso said he hopes his garage is repainted soon. He isn’t sure if he gave permission as he said his wife handled it, but he is sure he doesn’t like the change.

“It’s not nice,” he said standing on his porch. “I’m not happy, because, before yes the door is OK, now it’s like junk.”