The You-do-it Electronics rooftop sign at 40 Franklin St. moved a step closer to historical protection after the Needham Historical Commission voted unanimously on June 15 to add it to the town's Inventory of Historic Properties.

The Route 128 landmark becomes the first sign on Needham's 147-item historical register and the first entry dating from the second half of the 20th century. The listing is the first step in a state preservation process; final approval would come from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, though no timeline for that review has been set.

The preservation push began after Onyx Partners, the commercial real estate firm that owns the building, applied to the Needham Design Review Board for permission to install its own signage on the building's northwest corner, also facing Route 128. Onyx's proposed package includes a sign for the company and a second for Pure Hockey, a retail store leasing the first floor.

That application creates a bylaw conflict. Needham allows only one sign per address, prohibits rooftop signs, and caps highway-facing signs at 100 square feet. Onyx's proposed sign exceeds that limit.

Gloria Greis, a Historical Commission member and director of the Needham History Center & Museum, told the Needham Observer that Boston's Citgo sign is the most obvious state precedent for protecting commercial signage. In her draft appeal to the state commission, she described the You-do-it sign as "a defining landmark at the gateway to Needham," positioned alongside "America's Technology Highway."

The sign has crowned the building since 1979, when the top two floors were added. You-do-it Electronics, founded by John Ahigian Sr. in 1965, once drew about 400 customers a day, serving hobbyists, TV stations, hospitals, and the MBTA in emergencies. The store closed in 2024 after nearly 60 years.

John Ahigian Jr., the founder's son and former store manager, learned of the preservation effort from the Needham Observer. "It was like a maker space before there were maker spaces," he said of the store's workbenches, which offered electronic tools for 25 cents an hour.

Onyx Partners called the sign the most beloved feature of the building in a press release and expressed a goal of saving it. Design Review Board Chair Mark Gluesing told the Observer the board has granted signage exceptions before and tries to be flexible depending on the situation.

The next public decision point is Monday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m., when the Design Review Board holds a hearing via Zoom (Meeting ID: 837 5422 1747) on Onyx Partners' and Pure Hockey's sign permit applications under Sign By-Law Sections 5.3.4 and 5.3.5. Residents can request application materials by emailing [email protected] in the Planning Office.