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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