A Whitehorse landmark gets its glow back — literally

There's a renewed glow to one of Whitehorse's iconic landmarks — thanks to a restored, classic neon sign at the Yukon Theatre downtown.

"In my recollection ... it's been a very, very long time since both sides of the vertical 'Yukon' sign and the full 'Theatre' sign had been lit all in the same colour," said Patrick Jacobson of the Yukon Film Society.

The society revived the shuttered theatre — built in 1954 — two years ago, and has now brought the retro neon sign back to life.

Jacobson couldn't speak to specific reasons why the neon sign never fully worked under the theatre's previous operators, but he did say the sign would sometimes work "here and there."

"Of course, there isn't anybody in town as far as I'm aware that does neon repair work," he said. 

"For a long time it was kind of pieced together. Sometimes it'd get, you know, partially repaired and a couple of the letters were pink instead of red."

Jacobson said the restoration project was also done in an effort to bring a new vibe to the downtown street.

"There's a big revitalization that's happening on Wood Street," Jacobson said.

"The businesses along Wood Street are stepping up and taking a lot of pride in their properties. It's really great to be a part of that."

Since the Yukon Film Society took over operating the theatre, Jacobson said it's become more than just a place to watch the latest movies — so it was worth it to restore the glowing red sign.

"We do our film festivals there," he explained.

"We have live performances in there. We do a lot of documentary films, and independent films, and a lot of focus on Indigenous films ... so there's a different atmosphere, I guess, around it. It's being run by film lovers, and we all wanted to see that sign lit."

Jacobson said it cost around $25,000 to fix the sign. He said that's not including repainting the building, which was also done in the attempt to help revitalize the area.

He noted that the area around the theatre isn't well-lit, and now that the sign works it may help the street feel safer.

Jacobson said this project wouldn't have been possible without funding from the Yukon Government's historic properties assistance program, and the Yukon Historical & Museums Association.

Aside from the funding, Jacobson said he's grateful that Vancouver-based companies Tops Lighting and Concept Neon provided materials at a discounted price, while Melody Jolin from Right Painting and Inspired Interiors in Whitehorse helped with the paint.

Jacobson says the project had been a long time coming.

"You hear it all the time," he said.

"People saying that Whitehorse has changed so much and lost some of its character .. this is our opportunity to kind of hang on to some of that.

"[The Yukon Theatre] has been around since Whitehorse became the capital, so it's just really nice to be able to revitalize something that is very familiar and that people have a lot of memories in." 

Jacobson said the red neon sign will be turned on every day at 3 p.m. and stay on until midnight.