The 71-year-old, 85-foot-tall Safeway sign at Church and Market streets is slated for an overhaul this year, as Safeway plans to switch it from a traditional neon sign to a more modern LED light sign.

Not a lot has changed physically with the no-longer 24-hour Safeway at Church and Market streets in recent years, other than their anti-shoplifting gates and other self-checkout modifications in the interior. And that giant red neon “Safeway” sign has lorded over the grocery store’s parking lot since it opened in 1954.

But for the first time in decades, that sign is going to change, though the change may not be all that visually noticeable. SFGate reports that Safeway is planning to replace the sign’s neon lights with LED lights in a sort of cost-cutting, maintenance-lowering move.

According to SFGate, Safeway “plans to convert the sign’s neon lettering to LED,” though the site adds that “The sign’s red letters will remain.” SFGate adds that “This year, Safeway will swap the sign’s glass tubes for hassle-free LEDs, quietly closing out an era for San Francisco’s skyline.”

This “era” they refer to is largely the Market Street neon era, which is pretty much long-past. Though they do note that this particular Safeway sign is “likely the last neon sign for a national brand left standing in San Francisco,” in an article that also gives some good history and analysis of the old lit-up Coca-Cola billboard in South of Market, and that Yahoo! billboard that was visible on I-80.  

But will San Francisco’s fussy historical preservationist tendencies try to roadblock the conversion from neon to LED? It’s possible! Remember, the Palace Hotel had to fight for many months and through many City Hall meetings when they wanted to convert their sign from neon to LED last year.  

Related: Castro Theatre Neon Sign Will Be Fully Restored and Lit Back Up Next Week [SFist]

Image: Gi S via Yelp