The iconic Sam the Record Man sign will be restored and placed on display at Yonge-Dundas Square later this summer, Ryerson University has announced.

The famous neon sign has been kept in storage since the downtown record store went out of business in 2007.

Ryerson University had initially planned to install the sign at the site of its new Student Learning Centre, which now occupies the Yonge Street lot where Sam’s once stood, but the university had a change of heart after realizing that the neon sign would clash with the modern building.

The university then agreed to install the sign atop a city-owned building at 277 Victoria Street.

In a news release issued on Wednesday, Ryerson announced that it has chosen signage contractor Sunset Neon to refurbish the sign and install it. The school also announced a rough timeline of later this summer for the installation of the sign.

"We are very pleased to announce the iconic Sam the Record Man signs, with their spinning neon discs, will once again illuminate downtown Toronto," Ryerson President and Vice-Chancellor Mohamed Lachemi said in the press release. "We're very thankful to the City of Toronto and the Sniderman family for their ongoing support and patience. We are all looking forward to the signs lighting up Toronto later this year."

When Ryerson bought the former home of Sam The Record Man at 347 Yonge Street, city council voted to give a heritage designation to the site, making the school responsible for its preservation.

The news that the sign will be back on display this summer comes following several years of back-and-forth between city staff and Ryerson over the placement of the sign.

A statement issued on behalf of Sam The Record Man founder Sam Sniderman’s family called the new home for the sign overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square the perfect place for a piece of Toronto history.

"On behalf of every person who remembers purchasing their first record at or who ever worked in a Sam the Record Man store, Jason and Bobby Sniderman, the sons of Sam Sniderman, want to sincerely thank Ryerson university and the City of Toronto for having fulfilled their commitment to reinstall the iconic ‘Sam the Record Man’ signs,” the statement said. “The relocation to Yonge-Dundas square is the perfect ‘home’ for them and it should be known that our first record store in downtown Toronto opened on the east side of Yonge Street just south of Dundas, so our signs will now be mounted above and shining down on the original location.”

Ryerson University is covering the full cost of refurbishing the sign and installing it above 277 Victoria Street.