Signage company Sunset Neon has been selected to restore the historic Sam the Record Man signs, Ryerson announced Wednesday.
The signs will be placed atop 277 Victoria St. near Yonge-Dundas Square. The project is expected to start this spring and will be completed later in 2017.
To prepare for installation, the City of Toronto and Ryerson University had to study the site to ensure that the signs could be re-mounted, taking into account factors like weight and wind shear.
The neon signs have been in storage since the chain of record stores closed in 2007. They will be refurbished before moving to their new permanent home later this year. Ryerson says it will cover all costs associated with the restoration, installation and ongoing maintenance.
Initially, Ryerson agreed to re-install the signs at their original location at 347 and 349 Yonge Street or at the university library. But after the university purchased the site for the Student Learning Centre, the city designated the signs as a piece of Toronto heritage, making Ryerson responsible for preserving them.
“We are very pleased to announce the iconic Sam the Record Man signs, with their spinning neon discs, will once again illuminate downtown Toronto,” said Ryerson president Mohamed Lachemi. “We’re very thankful to the City of Toronto and the Sniderman family for their ongoing support and patience. We are all looking forward to the signs lighting up Toronto later this year.”
The family of Sam Sniderman, the Canadian businessman who founded the chain of record stores, said that it is satisfied with the restoration and relocation of the signs.
“We are certain that our father would be so pleased with the work that has and will be done and that these iconic symbols of our store and the music industry will be a lasting legacy […] which we will share with him and the community…forever,” read a statement from Sniderman’s sons, Jason and Bobby.