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Tim Nelson

Mpls. Grain Belt sign to be re-lit in 2017

Grain Belt sign
The Grain Belt sign as it looked in 1975.
Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

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The historic Grain Belt beer sign on the Minneapolis riverfront could glow again next year after being dark for decades.

The August Schell Brewing Company completed the purchase of the sign on Nicollet Island.

The New Ulm-based brewery bought the Grain Belt brand 14 years ago but that didn't include the sign.

Schell's hopes to have the sign glowing again on the Minneapolis skyline by the summer of 2017. In the meantime it is marking the occasion with a new beer named after the nearby locks and dams on St. Anthony Falls.

Schell said it is working with local historical consultants Hess, Roise and Company to try to have the sign named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Grain Belt Sign
A view of Nicollet Island from the Great Northern Railway station in 1953: East Hennepin Avenue at far right, De LaSalle High School at left and the Grain Belt sign by the bridge.
Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society

Hess Roise was part of the renovation of the old Grain Belt brewery in northeast Minneapolis and the North Star Blankets sign in downtown Minneapolis, according to Schell's statement.

Correction (Feb. 1, 2016): An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Grain Belt sign had not been lit since 1975.