British spray-washing method may restore Seattle zoo mural painted over by mistake

Within a couple of minutes Thursday afternoon, it became clear the beloved mural by the Woodland Park Zoo — the one the city's Graffiti Rangers mistakenly covered up in early May with gray paint, creating a neighborhood uproar — could be saved.

It took a 73-year-old venture capitalist from Saint Simons Island, Ga., to provide the city of Seattle with a way out of its embarrassing dilemma.

With a patented spray-washing method, it took maybe 10 minutes for a 24-square-foot patch of the mural to come through in a test. Peeking out was what appeared to be an elephant, one of many whimsical animals painted on the much larger mural.

It didn't look like the spray had damaged the original paint. The low-pressure spray combined warm water with volcanic crystals the size of fine sand. But unlike sandblasting, the crystals shatter when they hit a surface, reducing the abrasion.

The mural actually appeared shiny and new, having just been coated with water. And it was all a very green technology — no chemicals.

Now the city has to decide whether to pony up for the rest of the job.

The mural was painted in October 1994 on the underpass at North 57th Street and Phinney Avenue North. It was about 50 feet wide and 13 feet high on each side of the underpass, with giant, friendly animals.

Originally it had been done in conjunction with a now-defunct program that channeled the energy of kids doing graffiti into legal venues, not sides of buildings. A couple of hundred neighbors helped paint the mural, and it had become a landmark for the neighborhood.

Then one neighbor, Greg Zuhl, innocently called the city's Graffiti Report Line about tagging of the mural.

The city took action, but not quite what Zuhl expected.

It obliterated the mural with gray paint.

On Thursday, Zuhl watched the volcanic crystals do their work.

"Seeing the color come back just gives me an incredible feeling," said Zuhl.

The designer of the particular mural was Josh Howard, now a 33-year-old New York City artist.

"Wow. I don't believe it," he said Thursday when told of the partial recovery. "This is amazing."

Pete Hall, general manager of Surface Cleaning Technologies in Bellevue, did Thursday's spraying with a 65-foot, 1-inch diameter hose. He was elated, and admitted he had been a little nervous.

TV cameras and photographers were there to record his efforts. What if it hadn't worked? That's not good publicity for a 6-month-old company.

Hall guessed it would cost the city $5,000 to $10,000 to remove the gray paint from the entire underpass.

Rick Sheridan, spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation, said, "If the price is reasonable and results are as expected, certainly it's something we'd consider."

On the sidewalk across from the cleaning operation, venture capitalist Bill Van Loan looked quite happy.

The Georgia man has done well enough in life to retire and play golf. But, "I'm a Type A personality," he said. "It's stupid chasing a little white ball."

So instead he put money in this new technology for surface cleaning. He invested $150,000 to become the Washington and Oregon dealer for the cleaning method — developed in England and called the Farrow System.

Looking at the newly revealed elephant from the mural, Van Loan said, "This is going to do a lot for us."

On the sidelines, some onlookers were glad that a venture capitalist keeps up with neighborhood news.

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com