Pink Elephant Car Wash sign put up outside Amazon headquarters
Dec 16, 2022, 10:43 AM | Updated: Dec 17, 2022, 6:29 pm
Downtown Seattle’s neon pink elephant sign is sparkling once again. (Photo from Feliks Banel)
(Photo from Feliks Banel)
Downtown Seattle’s iconic neon pink elephant sign is sparkling once again.
The smaller of the two Pink Elephant Car Wash signs that once stood off Denny Way was installed Thursday at 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street, near Amazon headquarters.
Exclusive: Sneak peek at Elephant Car Wash sign
The pink pachyderm has been welcoming visitors in Seattle since 1956.
I said I’d stay away from the Elephant Car Wash sign until some dark and rainy night (when it could be fully appreciated) – but, dammit, vintage Seattle neon is MAGNETIC! pic.twitter.com/Kvvy2s8L6f
— Feliks Banel (@FeliksBanel) December 16, 2022
That sign was donated to Amazon in 2020 after the car wash announced it would close permanently during the COVID-19 pandemic in October of 2020.
Amazon has ownership rights to the piece and will steward it in the future in alignment with what happens between the landmark process and the ownership meeting, said Dean Allsop, manager of community engagement for the Puget Sound region at Amazon. The company’s goal is to make sure the pink elephant sign is a piece of publicly available art and has public benefit tied to it.
A larger, rotating Elephant Car Wash sign was given to the Museum of History & Industry. This larger sign stood at the north side of the car wash along Denny Way from 1956 to 2020 and, when it was functioning properly, rotated slowly by way of a hidden electric motor.
