Hi Tops Restaurant Sign Looking for Foster Home

The famed and iconic Hi Tops Chinese Restaurant sign is looking for a new temporary home following the closure of Hot Belly Mama’s back in March announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Hi Tops has been in business from 1908-2012 by the late Edwin Hum. Photo Courtesy of Bill Kimball.

Bill Kimball, the sign’s owner, made the post seeking a new storage spot for the sign with several suggestions from the community since it must be removed within the week. The sign does not have to be on display for fostering its storage.

The long-term goal is to have the sign restored but needs to be kept in a safe place in the meantime according to Kimball. During its storage, plans and funding for the restoration will be made.

Improvements include installing the neon, replacing any missing parts and a paint job. Fortunately, nearly all of the neon has been saved and will be reused once the sign has been restored. Kimball has had several offers from neon lighting experts to help restore the sign.

“It’s an exciting thing to view and quite pleasurable to look at it,” remarked Kimball. “It’s a work of art. I’m so impressed by the craftsmanship and artistry.”

While Kimball was asking for community suggestions, the Peterborough Museum & Archives was an option. After speaking with them, the sign would be displayed in its original state.

Several offers have been made to store the sign but a location has not yet been determined according to Kimball.

“I’m quite thrilled by the overall response and encouragement,” he exclaimed. “A solution for the immediate need for storage will come out of this. I’ve already had enough offers for space.”

Kimball is looking for a way to transport the sign once a storage location has been established. The iconic piece of lighting is in two pieces measuring roughly eight to nine feet long each.

Kimball volunteered to take the sign during the deconstruction of Hi Tops. He serves as the Public Energy Performing Arts executive director. Photo Courtesy of Bill Kimball.

Although concrete plans for funding the sign have not yet been made, now could be the time to begin its restoration process Kimbell tells PTBOCanada. A GoFundMe is a possibility that he would highly consider as a starting point.

Hi Tops closed in 2012 and is currently occupied by Real Thai Cuisine. The sign made its home at The Spill until 2017 followed by Hot Belly Mama’s.

“I consider it quite a commercial work of art,” remarked Kimball. That’s what it is and you know, the last remaining remnants of the heyday of neon signs.”

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Iconic Hi Tops Restaurant Sign Lives On (Again), Now At Hot Belly Mama's Restaurant

Remember the old Hi Tops Chinese restaurant that was a fixture in downtown Peterborough? You couldn't miss the iconic sign when you were driving down George Street and at night, it was even more of a focal point with its neon lights.

Indeed, the sign was one of the landmarks in the downtown core since the '60s...

The Old Hi Tops restaurant

When the sign came down in 2013 after it was announced Hi Tops was closing after about 100 years in business, everyone wondered what would become of it. Surely this rich part of Peterborough's history wouldn't end up in landfill.

Well the sign was saved by artist Bill Kimball after the Hi Tops owner agreed to give it to him, and a portion of the sign (it comes in two parts) found a home right across the street at The Spill coffee bar for many years...

The sign hanging at The Spill

When The Spill owner Dave Tobey closed the establishment last fall, people were wondering again, What would now become of the Hi Tops sign? Would it be saved again?

Indeed it would, thanks to another downtown business owner: "When I heard The Spill was closing, I reached out to Dave Tobey about the sign and he put me in touch with Bill Kimball the caretaker of the sign," Hot Belly Mama's owner Travis Smith tells PTBOCanada. "I said I would be happy to display it at The Belly as it would definitely fit in with my atmosphere there. He agreed."

Now the entire sign hangs proudly at The Belly...

The sign at Hot Belly Mama's

"I feel like the sign is a piece that needs to be on display as a big part of Peterborough's history," Smith tells PTBOCanada, adding that this whole process of getting the sign and installing it came together over the past couple months with Kimball and an amazing group of people in town.

Kudos to Smith for showcasing this important piece of Peterborough history in his restaurant. Go check it out next time you're in!

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