Seattle and Pike Place Market’s famous wall is being cleaned again.
According to the Pike Place Market, cleaning kicked off Monday and is expected to be finished Friday.
The last time the wall was cleaned was in 2019, followed by 2015 and 20 years before that.
Why is it being cleaned again? The sugar in the gum is the problem.
The acidic properties of the gum have been slowly damaging the building’s bricks.
The tradition started as people waited in line to get into the Market Theater. Since gum isn’t allowed inside, the patrons would stick their gum to the wall.
The Pike Place Market will leave a heart-shaped section as a special memento, but they expect the wall to be filled with gum again quickly.