As the face of the drag changes, periodically new franchises replace old icons. Now, a California food chain is taking over the popular Sound Exchange on 21st and Guadalupe streets.
This time, the controversy is not about business, but rather a frog.
It's a silent hello, a greeting that brightens the day of people who walk by.
"Oh, it cheers me up. It's silly and fun and I think, it's a good touch even on a bad day," resident Elizabeth Kirkindall said.
Daniel Johnston, an alternative musician, painted the mural on the wall of Sound Exchange a decade ago, but Wednesday, the "Hi, how are you?" frog will croak for good.
"All the older Austin businesses get pushed out for the smaller chain restaurants and I think it's kinda' sad," resident Adam Norwood said.
Baja Fresh, a California-based Mexican food chain, took over the building where a small group of concerned frog fans gathered in opposition.
"I can understand their concern. Unfortunately, there's an owner that owns this building that's going to put windows in. I was telling my guys that could be saved if someone wanted to save it," Bruce Gist, with A-1 Coring contractor, said.
Construction crews have already started working on building a window that will replace the entire mural and there's nothing the city of Austin can do about it because the mural is not a historic landmark and it's on private property.
"I've been threatened behind it, people telling me they're going to come blow the building up if we cut it down and they wouldn't eat at the new Baja Fresh restaurant and, it's been wild, man," concrete cutter Adam Liboak said.
People are saying goodbye to their favorite frog.
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Mural to be torn down
The "Hi, how are you?" frog mural will be torn down to make room for a Baja Fresh.
 
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"I think it'd be a good gesture of goodwill and a win-win situation for the company and for Austin if they kept the mural," Kirkindall said.
John Oudt, the owner of the Baja Fresh franchise on the Drag, said he had no idea the frog was anything more than graffiti. He said he would lose money if he tried to preserve the mural at such late notice.
Construction crews plan to tear down the wall Wednesday.
