Q. How thick is the paint on the Rock at Hill and Washtenaw? What did the original rock look like, and why was it placed there?
A. This Canadian limestone glacial deposit was moved from a gravel pit near Pontiac Trail by parks superintendent Eli Gallup in 1932; the occasion was the 200th birthday of president George Washington. In 1939 a plaque was added, but that plaque is now buried deep beneath paint. How deep? In 2010 the Michigan Daily’s Sam Wainwright drilled colorful core samples and reported depths from 1.5 to five inches.
Unfortunately the painters don’t always limit themselves to the rock. In the February 2016 Observer, neighbor Nehama Glogower described two instances of family members slipping on freshly painted sidewalks. “The painting continues,” Glogower recently emailed, despite her efforts to “gently correct” the perpetrators. “I still have to keep my eyes open and opt to walk on the grass if the paint is looking wet.” City spokesperson Robert Kellar recommends that anyone encountering a bad paint situation report it through the A2 Fix It app or at a2gov.org/A2fixit.
