One of Chicago’s most visible remnants from the city’s glory boom days as America’s railway capital is ready to step back into the limelight at a new permanent home. Once occupying a prominent position on Chicago’s skyline where it overlooked Grant Park from atop the Railway Exchange Building at 224 S. Michigan Avenue, the Santa Fe lettering was replaced with a sign from Motorola Solutions in 2012.
Though it was reported that the Santa Fe sign was be relocated to the Illinois Railway museum shortly after its removal, the iconic Windy City artifact is finally ready to be display after a four year restoration process. The letters were erected atop new steel supports earlier this month and are in the process of being wired for illumination, reports Loop North News.
Expected to be compete by mid September, the installation joins the museums collection of other Santa Fe branded equipment, including a restored locomotive. Located roughly 60 miles northwest of Chicago in the town of Union, the Illinois Railway Museum bills itself as the nation’s largest.
- Former sign on top of Santa Fe Building installed at railway museum [Loop North News]
- Local museum lands Santa Fe sign [Chicago Tribune]
- Illinois Railway Museum [website]
- Previous Chicago historic preservation coverage [Curbed Chicago]