UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS (KGTV) — The lights on the University Heights sign are back on after more than 6 months of outages — but the community says the 30-year-old landmark still needs a major facelift.
The city funded a neon replacement earlier this month, bringing the sign back to full brightness after a prolonged period of burned-out letters.
"Sometimes it was all out, then it would work, and then it's been completely out for the last 2 weeks before September 9th when they did the neon replacement," Marc Johnson, president of the University Heights Community Association, said.
The fix came at a cost of about $24,000.
"The city was able to find about $24,000 in the couch cushions to fund the replacement of the neon on the sign, which was awesome," Johnson said.
But Johnson says the neon replacement is only part of what the sign needs.
"The metal has rusted. It's faded. The decals, the lettering around the neon are all peeling and cracking," Johnson said.
Graffiti at the top of the archway is also among the issues that need to be addressed in a full refurbishment, which is estimated to cost $80,000.
The University Heights Community Association launched a fundraiser at the end of August to cover the cost. Within the first week, a longtime resident stepped up with a significant contribution.
"We launched that fundraiser at the end of August, and within the first week, one of our most generous longtime residents came up with a $25,000 matching donation," Johnson said.
More than $56,000 has been raised so far. The goal is to reach $80,000 by the end of the year.
"So we fundraise to get this done so in 2027, the sign is good as new again, and we hope that will last until 2057," Johnson said.
Johnson also said he hopes the Maintenance Assessment District can begin building a reserve fund for any future repairs the sign may need.
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