It’s the end of a slightly disgusting era.

People have been chewing and building up the ‘gum wall’ in Seattle for 20 years, but now the whole thing’s going to be cleared away.

Over the last two decades it’s become Pike Place Market’s second most popular attraction (after the first ever Starbucks, naturally).

According to Kelly Foster from Cascadian Building Maintenance, they’ll be using an ‘industrial steam machine that works like a pressure washer’ to blast the wall clean.

‘This is probably the weirdest job we’ve done,’ she told the Seattle Times.

Emily Crawford from the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority reckons there are around one million pieces of gum stuck to the walls underneath the marketplace in Post Alley, and the build-up of gum is around six inches thick in places.

And more accurate figures on the amount of gum are on their way – Crawford says the PDA wants to weigh it once it’s been removed.

Apparently the gross but interesting landmark needs to be cleaned off to preserve the market’s historic buildings.

‘It was never part of the charter or the history of the market to have the walls covered with gum,’ Crawford added. ‘Gum is made of chemicals, sugar, additives – things that aren’t good for us. I can’t imagine it’s good for brick.’

Cleaning’s going to start on the 10th November, and will take around three or four days.
But the authorities say it won’t stay spotless for long.

‘We’re not saying [the gum] can’t come back,’ Crawford said. ‘We need to wipe the canvas clean and keep it fresh.’

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/05/this-chewing-gum-wall-is-going-to-be-cleaned-away-after-20-years-5481607/#ixzz3qnh7VfLF