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Citgo sign to light forever 'bove the streets of Boston
By adamg on Wed, 03/15/2017 - 6:27pm
Mayor Walsh today announced a deal that will keep the Citgo sign flashing above Kenmore Square for years and years.
Walsh says Citgo and Related Beal, the company that now owns the building the sign sits on, hammered out a deal in a room at City Haill - which he offered to them as a "neutral negotiation location" for as long as they needed to work out a deal.
Walsh said the two sides took him up on the offer during yesterday's nor'easter and began negotiating. They reached a final deal this afternoon, he said.
In a statement, Walsh said:
I applaud Related Beal and Citgo for their willingness to come together in a collaborative way that will benefit the entire city. The Citgo sign has become an important part of the community and I am delighted that both sides were able to agree on terms that will allow the sign to stay where it is.
Related Beal President Kimberly Sherman Stamler said:
We are pleased to have reached a resolution where the sign will remain in place for decades to come and are grateful for the Mayor's leadership. We look forward to again collaborating with the City of Boston on plans for the redevelopment of Kenmore Square and to bringing increased economic activity, hundreds of jobs and a marquee office location to the area.
Rick Esser, vice president of supply and marketing for Citgo, added:
This agreement ensures that the sign will continue to shine brightly for years to come.
Details of the plan were not announced.
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Comments
THANK GOD
May drunk college kids and tourists from Minnesota never be without a pointless advertisement to guide their way home!
Hey now - as a BU alum and a
Hey now - as a BU alum and a resident of Towers on Bay State, I can absolutely say this sign is worth its weight in gold - when you're walking home from Ashmont St with no shoes on at 3am and not sure where you're going.
this is what's wrong with Boston
this along with the citgo sign is an embarrassment to my city.
really? a gas company sign is a landmark? bleh.
this would never happen in LA, SF, NYC...we need to grow up as a city.
This would never happen in NYC...
...except for the nearly decade long battle to preserve the giant Domino Sugar sign above the former sugar refinery in Brooklyn.
http://ny.curbed.com/2016/5/25/11773438/domino-sugar-refinery-williamsbu...
"this would never happen in LA"
Uh...I think you may need to check your facts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign
LA and SF are cesspools
So is NYC but it's fun to visit at least.
You should try living in LA or SF and report back.
And who cares if someone gets drunk and walks home with no shoes on...I'll be looking for the moron clutching his pearls this weekend at the Southie parade, or the person with the shades drawn peeking out occasionally......maybe we'll see each other! :)
The Prudential Tower
Served as a pretty decent advertising beacon to guide my Wentworth buddy home!
Did Mayor Walsh Say How Much Citgo Is Paying Boston For This?
Surely, having their advertising symbol honored and displayed in such a prominent way is worth a fortune!
It's relevant to know how much the oil company is paying up front, and what kind of ongoing payments the mayor has negotiated for the city, in this apparently decades-long agreement.
I'd love to know the same regarding Hubway
Which unlike this isn't a prominent Boston icon. You've clearly made a complain but haven't provide any alternative or solution. Even if Citgo was dissolved and no longer in business im sure we would still be having the same conversation regarding preserving the iconic sign.
NIMBY!
Hubway Is Completely Different— It Provides A Beneficial Service
Even if you don't use Hubway personally, you probably benefit indirectly through fewer cars on the road and/or more available parking.
The Citgo sign provides little if any benefit to city residents, however the advertising has great value to the company. It only seems fair that they pay the city an appropriate amount in return.
Indeed, that is a solution I suggested — if the alternative is for Citgo to pay nothing for the advertising.
Transparency?
In City of Boston zoning, tax breaks and development?
hahahahahahaha
Sounds like Walsh negotiated
Sounds like Walsh negotiated for the right to announce the deal himself, so that we can all get four more years of Walsh.
Many Boston residents,
Many Boston residents, including those near the Cito sign, get eviction notices frequently from new owners who want them out only to pretend to "upscale" the property. No one at City Hall comes to their aid but when it comes to a tacky ad for a multi-billion dollar foreign air polluting company, everyone is in a panic. The world is a sick puppy.
Don't sign a lease that allows eviction
New owners can't evict you during your ongoing lease, unless the lease specifically allows for that (in MA). Don't ever sign a lease that states they can kick you out when they sell the property. IF you're saying the kick you out at the end of your lease, then it's not eviction and that's their right so you don't have much to complain about. Just like you can chose to leave at the end of your lease. It was a set timeline.
Cranky people are sure to be disappointed.
(n/t)
Good! It's a Boston landmark
Good! It's a Boston landmark that anyone who grew up in New England and visited Boston associates with Boston and Kenmore Square. It's like dirty water, it's just one of the many odd things that make Boston unique.
Had it not been visible from the behind-the-plate camera
of Red Sox broadcasts all these years, it might not be so iconic -- just a pleasant curiosity that Bostonians might have let go of years ago.
But Fenway Park and the Citgo Sign are inextricably linked. And just as there are plenty who would love to raze Fenway and replace it with something generic and prosaic, lots of Bostonians would love to see the Citgo sign meet its demise.
Why? Because it would allow them to indulge in the one thing that is more Boston than anything else Boston. And that thing is: grumpy negativity about everything.
Bummer
Be nice if our most famous landmark wasn't advertising from an oil company. (The sign was 'live' on TV tonight for the report, and was broken, as usual it seems)
It's nice an all, but stopping development in all of Kenmore to 'save' an advertising sign, well....
Most famous landmark?
Not even close. I'll bet that 99% of people outside of the Boston area don't even know it exists, especially as compared to Faneuil Hall, the Old North Church, the Common, the Public Garden, etc.
It never ceases to amuse me
It never ceases to amuse me how this giant advertisement is so beloved and supported by community activist types.
Can you imagine how the same people would react today if someone wanted to erect a brightly-lit, blinking, 60'-tall commercial billboard towering over Boston nowadays?