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The city of Portland now officially owns the Made in Oregon sign, which will soon be known as the Portland Oregon sign.

City Council, via an emergency ordinance today, accepted the donation of the sign from its current owner, Darryl Paulsen. In return, Paulsen’s company, Ramsay Signs, will be awarded a 10-year maintenance contract for the sign at a price of $2,000 a month.

“It’s not really that we gave it to the company in return,” Commissioner Randy Leonard said. “We needed a maintenance agreement because we don’t have anyone with the expertise to get up there and maintain it.”

The maintenance contract will be paid for with revenues from a lease of a commercial structure and parking at a lot at the corner of West Burnside Street and Southwest Naito Parkway. The long-empty, city-owned space will be leased out by developer Art DeMuro. The Portland Development Commission will provide $20,000 in lease improvements for the build-out of the commercial space and the parking lot.

DeMuro will lease the rooftop where the sign sits to the city for $1 per year for seven years. The city will then be granted an easement on the property and retain ownership. The sign sits atop the White Stag Building, which DeMuro owns.

DeMuro also will pay for the sign’s lettering to be changed from “Made in Oregon” to “Portland Oregon.” The work is expected to cost $200,000.