The “TYLER” sign at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Erwin Street shines anew on Tuesday Feb. 3, 2015 after Rick’s on the Square owner Rick Eltife got it in working order in downtown Tyler. Eltife said the sign is a piece of downtown history and that he replaced neon-tubing, transformers and some electrical inside the porcelain sign to bring it back to life. (Derek Kuhn/STAFF)

A gateway landmark for downtown Tyler is glowing again.

The “TYLER” sign at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Erwin Street received some attention Tuesday after the “TYL” neon-tubes went dark about three years ago.

The 20-foot porcelain and neon-sign originally drew moviegoers to the Tyler Theater from Aug. 2, 1940 to September 1982.

Rick’s on the Square owner Rick Eltife said the sign is a piece of downtown history.

Eltife said he replaced neon-tubing, transformers and some electrical inside the porcelain sign to bring it back to life.

“It’s an incredible sign,” he said. “It’s something people like to take pictures by when they’re downtown, especially when it’s lit up.”

Eltife said the sign itself, because of its age and history, is irreplaceable and that his plan is to preserve it and renovate the Tyler Theater marquee just a few steps down the hill from the sign.

According to documents at the Smith County Historical Society, on opening night, the Tyler Theater charged 33 cents for matinees and 44 cents for nighttime showings of “They Drive By Night,” a Humphrey Bogart-Ann Sheridan film about wildcatter truckers pushing themselves to the limits to make deliveries.

The single-screen theater showed hundreds of films over the decades. Some stars, including Ann Margret and Sonny and Cher, attended opening nights at the theater, which drew throngs of fans along Broadway Avenue.

Peter Cilliers, owner of Sign Masters of Tyler, which refurbished the sign, said most businesses are moving away from older lighting technologies like neon but that for some it’s about more than a sign.

Cilliers said neon tube bending is becoming a dying trade and that the technology requires higher voltage and more maintenance than newer LED lights. But neon adds aesthetic qualities LEDs can’t, he said.

“A lot of people still like the look of neon,” he said. “It just has a vintage look that people want.”

There is a ladder in the sign, which allows maintenance of the sign. Cilliers said the “skinniest” worker on his staff had to be called to make repairs at its bottom.

Eltife said this is the third time he’s repaired the sign since purchasing the building it’s attached to. The damaging culprits the last two times have been limbs from the bald cypress tree planted along the sidewalk on the corner.

He said he had been contemplating opening a second location on south Broadway Avenue but decided to invest in his downtown location instead. He said preserving the historic aesthetic details of the building, which was built in the late 1880s, don’t make him money but that they can’t be replaced.

“I like to keep the age in the building,” he said. “So people can come in to a place and feel like they’ve been transported back to the late 1800s, 1920s or ’40s.”