But officials in Seattle have announced that for the first time in 20 years, they plan to clean all of the gum that has been stuck to a wall at Pike Place Market. The gum wall has grown to 8-feet high and more than 54-feet wide, with approximately 150 pieces of gum per brick.
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The Gum Wall, located in Post Alley, has become a landmark in and of itself since people started depositing their gum there 20 years ago. The cleaning is expected to take multiple days due to the volume of gum on the walls. The cleanup is necessary, according to the Pike Place Market, because the sugar in the gum is eroding the brick that houses the Market Theater.
Interestingly, it is not a concern for germs or hygiene that has the Pike Place Market anxious. Owners of the place are merely concerned about the impact the gum, or more specifically, the sugar in it, has on the wall’s integrity. They claim the sugary substances damage the bricks.
The market is hosting a photo contest celebrating the gum wall. “We really want the gum wall to remain part of Pike Place Market”.
The machine will melt the gum with 280-degree steam. This should loosen the gum and cause it to fall to the ground. But this will be the first time all the gum-an estimated 1 million pieces-will be removed, the Seattle Times reports. Why? Then a crew of two or three people will collect it in five-gallon buckets.
Emily Crawford, a spokeswoman for the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority, told the Times that the next week’s cleaning job will cost the market about $4,000.
According to Fox News on November 3, the “Unexpected Productions Theater” whose customers basically created that gummed up wall, has dubbed this “the 2nd Germiest Tourist Attraction in the World”.
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“We’re not saying it can’t come back”.
