SEATTLE — A popular pink attraction has returned to the Seattle skyline.
One of the pink Elephant Car Wash signs that stood at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Battery Street is now lit up in the shadow of the Amazon spheres at Seventh Avenue and Blanchard.
It took more than a year of work to replace the wiring and install neon tubes on the sign.
“We took something that would be considered a sign at some point in time but is full of so much craft and technique," said Western Neon creative director Dylan Neuwirth. "It is art!”
Paying tribute to the original artist was a point of pride for Western Neon.
The timing couldn't be better. According to Zach Goldsztejn with Amazon, the Seattle Landmark Preservation Board unanimously voted to designate the sign as a landmark.
“We are a Seattle business and we felt it was really important to preserve this piece of Seattle culture and iconography,” Goldsztejn said.
The Elephant Car Wash location was established in 1956.
In 2020, the car wash chain announced it would close that location, citing increasing crime, drug activity, homelessness, and the increasing cost to do business in Seattle.
The sign on Amazon's campus is one of two from the Elephant Car Wash. A larger sign was donated to Seattle's Museum of History and Industry.
The pink Elephant Car Wash sign was designed by Seattle's Beatrice Haverfield in 1956, and from there she went on to create imagery that has become part of Seattle's history.
She also designed the neon Ivar's sign on the waterfront, the original Cinerama sign, the now demolished Chubby & Tubby, as well as Dick's Burgers.