The Citgo Sign Has Hung Over Kenmore Square Since 1940, and It’s About to Move
It started as a Cities Service sign, survived an energy crisis and a veto, and you can see it over the Green Monster.
The Citgo sign went up over Kenmore Square in 1940, and it has outlasted almost everything around it. It’s two-sided and 60 feet square, and Red Sox fans know it from the view over the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Was it always a Citgo sign?
No. It was built as a Cities Service sign, with that company’s green-and-white logo, by the C.I. Brink Sign Company. The red Citgo triangle replaced it in 1965.
How did it survive?
More than once, by public demand:
- 1979: Governor Edward J. King had it turned off to save energy.
- 1983: after protests against plans to take it down, Citgo refurbished and relit it in front of about 1,000 people.
- 2005: it came back after a six-month restoration. The old neon used 5,878 glass tubes, more than five miles of them; today it runs on LEDs.
- 2016–2017: a developer bought the building, and agreed in 2017 to keep the sign.
- 2018: the Boston Landmarks Commission voted to make it a landmark, but Mayor Marty Walsh vetoed the designation.
Is the Citgo sign moving?
Yes. In October 2025 the city approved moving it 30 feet higher and 130 feet east. The lights still go off every night at midnight.
Kenmore Square was also home to Boston’s most famous rock basement, the Rat. For a night in the area now, see Fenway and the shows at MGM Music Hall.
Sources: Wikipedia: Citgo sign.
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