Boston's Citgo Sign Earns Landmark Status From City Commission

The iconic Citgo sign in Boston's Kenmore Square is on its way to becoming a protected landmark.

The Boston Landmark Commission unanimously approved the designation at a meeting Tuesday night.

The designation would provide extra protections for the decades-old sign and views of it amid future development.

The designation now goes to the mayor's office, where he will have 15 days to vote on it. It would then go to the Boston City Council, which has 30 days to consider it.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Marty Walsh said he will review the proposed designation.

The landmark commission voted back in 2016 to grant preliminary landmark status to the sign.

The sign's future was put in doubt when Boston University, earlier in 2016, announced it was seeking to sell the building atop which the sign sits.

Developer Related Beal then reached a deal to purchase the building and said in 2017 that the Citgo sign "will remain in place for decades to come."

Back in 1983, the city commission denied landmark status to the sign.