Warhol’s Tacoma Dome flower

Tacoma City Council is set to start looking for ways to put an enormous flower designed by Andy Warhol on the roof of the Tacoma Dome now that a test strip to see how well the design would weather determined that it could work. But it would be expensive, something the city might have trouble floating to residents.

Warhol designed the flower print as part of his formal proposal to the city’s call for artists to decorate the Tacoma Dome in the 1980s. The city opted for another design, which ultimately failed and created the default “art” the wood-framed dome has now. The notion of covering up the current blue and white scheme with Warhol’s flower had been on the shelf for years and got new life last spring.

Crews put a test strip up five months ago to see if the cold and rain and street grime from nearby Interstate 5 would make the design unsightly or if it would even stay in place. The results were mixed. The decal wasn’t peeling off and the seams kept water from leaking under the material, but the dark colors were already fading. The seams were significantly collecting dirt.

A recommendation by staffers was to fund a cleaning every six months at a cost of $150,000 on top of the $2 million installation cost. That cost could be covered by donations since the city isn’t flush with cash to cover the whole bill.