The Citgo Sign in Kenmore Square. Photo: Margaret Weigel.

The physical condition of the sign had steadily deteriorated in the months and years since September 1979, when its rows of red, white and blue neon tubing had been deactivated, and its maintenance contract terminated. By CITGO's estimation, it would cost close to $50,000 to repair the sign, and an additional $5800 a month to light and maintain it. By the fall of 1982, CITGO was ready to cut its losses and remove the sign.

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But before the workers could hoist their tools onto the roof that breezy November day, they were confronted by CITGO sign fans who were shocked to learn that their beloved icon was about to be casually disassembled and carted away. The Boston Landmarks Commission promptly served the work crew with a 'cease and desist' order, buying the commission 10 weeks to consider a pending petition to grant the CITGO sign official landmark status. For the next month and a half, Bostonians passionately debated the merits of saving or dismantling the CITGO sign. Formal arguments in favor of preserving the CITGO sign cited it as one of the few remaining examples of roadside art, a symbol of America's mid-20th century love affair with the speed, freedom, and power of the automobile. The sign's abstract, symmetrical design was a classic "high modern" style. Moreover, unlike the crazy antics of the animated derrick on the White Fuel sign across the street, the CITGO sign's unpretentious red triangular logo and simple white background rolled and surged in gentle wave formations. To its fans, the lit sign was a bright and iconoclastic complement to Kenmore Square's other unconventional charms.

Opponents to the preservation of the sign countered with practical and aesthetic arguments of their own. Because the CITGO Corporation had decided to not finance the repair and maintenance of the sign beyond 1986, opponents cited lack of long-term funding. Others felt that the sign added a seedy, Times Square-type neon ambiance to Kenmore Square, which discouraged large-scale development. A January 1983 Boston Globe editorial suggested that, while the CITGO sign was indeed culturally worthwhile, it was time for it to be retired to a "museum collection of modern art or technology." Unfortunately, the paper conceded, no such museum existed. Whether some found the CITGO sign charming or tacky, everyone acknowledged the sign's status as a significant local landmark. For newcomers to the city, the CITGO sign served as a terrestrial North Star, a navigational anchor through the labyrinth-like sea of Boston streets. To the local residents, the sign signified a sense of home and belonging. But no one could appreciate its distinctive presence more deeply than the weary runners of the annual Boston Marathon and the citizens of Red Sox Nation.

The Landmark Commission's final ruling on the preservation of the CITGO sign, issued on January 25, 1983, highlighted the problematic relationship between privately owned icons and the public that cherishes them. In the end, it came down to money. The city would not assume the considerable financial obligation necessary to maintain the sign, while the commission was understandably reluctant to assign that responsibility in perpetuity to the CITGO Corporation. But the passionate imbroglio surrounding the decision had not been lost on the sign's owners. "We had no idea the sign was so popular," marveled a CITGO spokesperson at the time, and the owners came to the rescue.

Since its official relighting in 1983, the sign has performed its nightly neon dance above Beacon Street, while promoting a brand synergy for CITGO that money can't buy. The legacy of the CITGO sign and the struggle over its fate continues to resonate well beyond Kenmore Square. As befits a local icon, the CITGO sign has been much celebrated in the press, including a selection as an "Object d'Heart" in Time magazine. The relighting of the CITGO sign foreshadowed a broader appreciation of decorative lighting's transformational power in the city, seen today in the indigo lights of the Zakim and Seaport Avenue bridges and the glowing blue crown of Amgen's Kendall Square headquarters. Electric light signs such as Charlestown's pink Schrafft sign and the Shell sign on Memorial Drive were also relit after the CITGO sign's resurrection, as were the John Hancock weather beacon and the Custom House clocks.

The CITGO sign is also frequently cited by local preservationists in arguments made to save the interior of the Colonial Theatre, the Northern Avenue Bridge, and Fenway Park, to name a few. They assume that the petition to grant the CITGO sign landmark status has succeeded and the sign's continued existence is assured. In reality, the future of the CITGO sign and other local artifacts that the public sees not only as advertising signs but also as icons, depends on the good graces of corporate owners, who cope with lean budgets and bankruptcies, re-branding and marketing strategies.

If some day a work crew should reappear on the rooftop of 660 Beacon Street and cart off the CITGO sign to oblivion, the removal would leave in its traumatic wake disoriented tourists, disgruntled Boston Marathon runners, an unremarkable view over Fenway's left field wall, and a dark hole in the night sky where the city's red, white, and blue neon heart once beat.

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