The iconic sign atop the Molson Tower at 121st Street and 105th Avenue in Edmonton was taken down Thursday, ahead of the planned overhaul of the building.

The sign — a landmark since the 1950s — will not be returning to its perch, said Ralph Huizinga, vice president with First Capital Realty Inc., in a press release.

"We're not going to replace it with the same sign, we're going to replicate it," he said.

"This sign is incredibly heavy. It's built with large (steel) girder. We're going to put up something a little lighter, something we can affix properly to the building, but it will have the same look and feel as this one."

The sign is being removed as a safety precaution while the building is remodeled into modern restaurants, office space, and a microbrewery.

Work on the former brewery, which opened in 1913 and closed in 2005, is expected to be completed by April 2018.

The brick exterior will be refurbished and the roof and windows replaced, Huizinga said.

Removing the Molson sign from the old brewery marks the beginning of the building's restoration. 1:05

It's the second iconic sign in Edmonton to be taken down this spring.

The SouthPark on Whyte sign on the south side was taken down in April prior to construction of a mixed retail-residential development on the old car lot, vacant since 2009.