Save the iconic 'Milshire Hotel' Neon Blade Sign

Help us purchase and save the neon "Milshire Hotel" blade sign.

The historic neon blade sign that has been a landmark on Milwaukee Avenue for decades and is one of the last survivors of this distinctive signage that was once a defining feature of Logan Square's commercial corridor.

The Milshire was a small hotel built to serve an entertainment and business district that boomed in the 1920s. As the neighborhood changed, it was a first point of entry for Latin American immigrants calling Logan Square their home. Most recently it was an SRO housing some of our city's most vulnerable. Those residents were displaced when it was bought for $2.4 million in December of 2014 by M. Fishman. It has been vacant ever since.

Continuing a trend in our city that is literally destroying its distinctive and historic streetscapes, this historic blade sign is now being offered up for sale to “collectors” with a starting price of $5,000, perhaps inspired by the recent sale of the "Orange Garden" sign to Billy Corgan for $17,000 earlier this year. We are raising money with the hope of keeping the sign here in Logan Square and even seeing it re-installed when the building is ultimately renovated.

If we are unsuccessful at purchasing the sign, all funds raised will be used to preserve other historic neon signs in our city that are in danger of being removed.

LOGAN SQUARE PRESERVATION is a decades-old 501c3 not-for-profit organization in Chicago, Ill. Our primary mission is to educate about the history of the Logan Square Neighborhood, its buildings and architectural styles as well as to advocate for the preservation and restoration of the Logan Square Neighborhood and to advocate for the residents of our community.