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Quick! Think of a famous Portland sign! You probably thought of , didn’t you? Name another! Let me guess – Hung Far Low, right? Both of those signs, probably the largest and best known bits of flashing light in Portland, have been extensively restored in recent years (granted, Hung Far Low hanging without the neon), but recently another neon landmark got restored, thanks to .

The Butte Hotel has sat at the corner of Northwest Fifth Avenue and Davis Street since 1912, making it as old as the larger, higher-end hotels in town (for comparison: the Benson was also built in 1912, the Heathman in 1927 and the Governor in 1909.) The Butte has had several different lives – it’s been a pool hall, a bar, and a fish market, and nowadays is home to , and low-income housing in the Old Town area.

No one is quite sure when the iconic sign was first installed. Kathy Pape of the Central City Concern estimates that it’s most likely from the ’40s or ’50s. In any case, it was hanging from the building in 1983 when the CCC acquired it and already in a state of disrepair. This past year it was removed from the building, restored by and reinstalled directly on the corner of Northwest Sixth Avenue and Davis Street where it will no longer be obstructed by trees. Funding for the restoration came mostly from Central City Concern, though some other funds came from a Portland Development Commission fund aimed at improving storefronts along the Green and Yellow MAX lines.

This project is only the most visible part of CCC’s restoration of the Butte Hotel. Not only did it polish up the glowing landmark, but it also began extensive structural work on the building itself, which is now at full capacity.

“Further work done on the Butte will be sensitive to the historic value of the building and will fit in with the general architecture of the area,” Pape said. The undertaking is the CCC’s 14th restoration project in the downtown and Old Town area.

Urban beautification and development are all well and good, but the restoration of the sign is also great news for local history nerds (like myself) who enjoy bright, shiny objects. Portland, like many other American cities, used to light up with multicolored neon in the night. Downtown Broadway used to look , for example. Nowadays, , many of them are in various states of disrepair due to high maintenance costs. The Butte sign, though, now shines again over Old Town.