Boston’s iconic CITGO sign is moving — but staying in Kenmore Square

For more than 60 years, the iconic CITGO sign has beamed above Kenmore Square, greeting Boston Marathon runners and looming over Fenway Park like a low-hanging, neon (now LED) moon.

The local beacon is getting a new home as the area undergoes redevelopment. But, it won’t be too far from its original location.

“CITGO may think of this as their Sign, but in Boston, we think of it as ours,” Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents Kenmore Square, said in a press release about the sign’s move.

The 60-foot by-60-foot illuminated sign, bearing the oil company’s name and simple triangular logo, appears to fans inside Fenway Park to hover above the Green Monster and is commonly spotted on TV broadcasts of Red Sox home games. It has sat on the roof of 660 Beacon St. since 1940, although it only acquired its familiar red triangle logo in 1965. 

As part of a redevelopment project on Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street, including 660 Beacon St., the sign is set to shift slightly, but remain highly visible. It will be moved 30 feet higher and 120 feet east of where it sits now, CITGO and Suffolk Construction said in a press release Wednesday. Suffolk is managing the project. 

Work to move the sign will begin “in the near future,” with plans in place to minimize the amount of time the sign will be unlit, CITGO and Suffolk said.

Local leaders praised the decision to relocate but preserve the sign in the release, with Mayor Michelle Wu calling the sign “a beloved treasure for Kenmore Square and residents across Boston.”

Recurring local backlash to plans to unplug the beloved billboard has kept the sign in place for decades. CITGO planned to remove it in the early 1980s, but reversed course after outcry from Boston residents, a company spokesperson said in 2017.

The sign’s perch above Kenmore Square more recently appeared precarious starting in 2016, when Boston University moved to sell 660 Beacon St. and several nearby buildings. The Boston Landmark Commission voted to make the sign an official landmark in 2018; former Mayor Marty Walsh vetoed the landmark designation but said he reached a deal with Citgo and the building’s developer to keep the sign in place “for years to come.”

“Whether it’s fans going to Fenway for a Red Sox game, marathon participants on their final stretch of the race going through Kenmore Square, students walking along Commonwealth Avenue, or tourists coming to check out all that this great city has to offer, the CITGO Sign has long served as an iconic landmark for Boston residents and visitors of Boston,” Governor Maura Healey said in Wednesday’s release. “This repositioning will ensure that the CITGO Sign remains visible in our skyline for generations to come.”