Seattle’s icky meltdown, by gum
SEATTLE — A piece of Seattle history is coming down — or rather, one million little pieces.
Crews are cleaning up the city’s famed “gum wall” near Pike Place Market, where tourists and locals have been sticking their used chewing gum for the past 20 years.
The wall is plastered with wads of gum in a kaleidoscope of colours, some stretched and pinched into messages, hearts and other designs. People also have used the gooey gobs to paste up pictures, business cards and other mementos.
This week, powerful steam cleaners were melting it all off.
Market officials ordered the cleaning amid worry that the huge amount of gum is damaging the brick wall. But they expect people will start leaving gum on the space again soon.
“I just hope that the citizens of Seattle don’t hate me for removing the gum wall,” said Kelly Foster, general manager of Cascadian Building Maintenance, the contractor hired by Pike Place Market to take on the cleaning. The market and contractor chose steam over pressure washing to conserve the market’s brick walls.
“It’s an icon. It’s history,” said onlooker Zoe Freeman, who works near Pike Place. “The market is famous for the gum wall. But it also draws rats.”
People first began sticking gum to the wall while waiting for shows at nearby Market Theater. Since then, the “gum wall” has expanded beyond one wall and onto other walls of an alley, pipes and even the theatre’s box office window.