by One of Seattle’s beloved neon pink elephants stands up and smiles.
Amazon installed the smaller Elephant Car Wash sign on its headquarters campus on Thursday, re-lighting a piece of Seattle history that stood just blocks away for over 60 years.
A crane has placed the non-rotating sign on a white pillar at the corner of 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street, a stone’s throw from The Spheres in the shadow of Amazon’s main Denny Triangle office towers.
The Elephant Super Car Wash chain operated a location on Battery Street and Denny Way until it closed in 2020. The larger pink sign, created by Seattle’s “Neon Queen” Bea Haverfield, stood out among the city’s many iconic neon signs. It was donated to the Museum of History and Industry in Lake Union.
After closing, Amazon was gifted a smaller sign by Elephant Car Wash owner Bob Haney in November 2020. Amazon wasn’t initially sure if the sign would make its way inside one of its many office buildings in Seattle, but the tech giant said it has invested about $175,000 to restore the sign through Western Neon, which has worked on iconic signs like Rainier Beer. R.”
Amazon said on Thursday it wants to ensure that the restoration process does not alter the original design or construction of the sign. Further damage due to “wear and tear” was mitigated by clear coating of existing paint, rather than peeling and matching the paint.
“The Pink Elephant has been a beloved landmark in Seattle for over 60 years,” said John Schoettler, VP of Global Real Estate and Facilities at Amazon in a press release. “With Amazon’s presence in Seattle for over 20 years, we see ourselves as part of the fabric of this community. When the opportunity arose to be part of the restoration process, we jumped right in. We are proud to help preserve a piece of the city’s history.”
Felix BanelKIRO Newsradio presenter and editor of the Washington State Historical Society’s quarterly magazine commended her decision to keep the signs out.
“The fact that it will be displayed outside – and often in the dark and rain where it has been most at home since the 1950s and just a few blocks from where it has stood for decades – means this sign will likely become one of Seattle’s most visible and beloved landmarks,” Banel said in a statement. real places,” he said.
The elephant isn’t the first piece of historic signage Amazon has taken as campus decor. The company said the old King Cat Theater sign hung in the Coral building, also known as Blanchard Plaza, at 2201 6th Ave.
And Amazon also donated $250,000 to help repair and retrofit another Seattle icon, Macy’s Christmas star, at an old downtown store in the old town that now occupies most of the floors by Amazon.
