SAN DIEGO — Not quite Bubblegum Alley, but exactly what'd you expect a Pacific Beach rendition to be: a Bubblegum pole!
It's exactly what it sounds like - a tall pole, decked from base to eye-high with chewed, sticky, and colorful bubblegum.
CBS 8's Jeff Zevely went for gum glory in 2017 to figure out what all the bubblegum beauty was about on the corner of Garnet Avenue and Bayard Street in Pacific Beach.
"Are they making a statement or something? I wonder what it could be because all I see is gum just stuck around a pole," a person strolling in Pacific Beach told Zevely.
Winter Fresh, Hubba Bubba, Juicy Fruit, and more were stuck to the pole by the thousands until early 2023. City officials replaced the pole for unknown reasons in late February.
Street View on Google Maps showed that the pole supported a set of power lines in the area.
No one knows how the sticking started, but CBS 8's Steve Price, who noticed the pole had been replaced, speculated it had something to do with the bar/party atmosphere that sweeps most of Pacific Beach.
The bubblegum pole in Pacific Beach reminds visitors of The Gum Wall in Seattle.
The Pike Place Market Gum Wall started in the 1990s when local patrons stuck their used gum on the wall. Since those days, the wall has grown piece by piece to cover an enormous expanse of brick and continues to expand down Post Alley, according to Pike Place Market.
Are you interested in leaving a chewer behind? Click here to see exactly where the pole is.
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