The Alabama Theatre’s iconic “blade” sign on Third Avenue North will be taken down on Friday for refurbishment, and could be gone for up to 18 months, theater organizers said today.

The sign, a beloved landmark in downtown Birmingham, has been in service for 62 years, drawing folks to the 2,150-seat theater at 1817 Third Ave. North.

Fravert Services, a local company that specializes in architectural signage, will start work on Thursday, organizers at the theater said. Dismantling and removal of the sign will start on Friday, and the 1800 block of Third Avenue North -- the street in front of the theater -- will be closed starting at 9 a.m. that day.

The street is scheduled to reopen on Monday, once the sign and its equipment have been safely removed, theater organizers said. The main entrance to the Alabama Theatre will be closed throughout the weekend. During that time, people can enter the theater through the stage door on 18th Street North or doors in the alley off 18th Street, between the theater and the parking deck of McWane Science Center.

Sprucing up the sign is part of a long-term plan to restore the exterior of the historic theater, which was built in 1927. The theater is owned by Birmingham Landmarks, a nonprofit organization that also owns the nearby Lyric Theatre.

“This refurbishment brings us closer to completing a three-phase plan for the total restoration of the Alabama Theatre exterior,” Brant Beene, executive director of Birmingham Landmarks, said in a press release. “Phase one was the replacement of the 18th Street vertical sign. Phase two will be the refurbishment of the Third Avenue sign. Phase three will be the replacement of the marquee, returning the ornate design of 1927 and improving on the original with use of LED bulbs and other 21st century technology.”

When it opened, the Alabama Theatre had two vertical signs, marking the building on Third Avenue North and 18th Street North. Both signs were removed in the mid-1950s, and a new sign on Third Avenue was installed in 1957. That sign, which features what organizers called “instant-type neon,” will have LED lighting when it returns to the building.

Here's how the Alabama Theatre looked in 1927. The theater in downtown Birmingham had two identical vertical signs, one on Third Avenue North, above the marquee, and one on 18th Street North.

The Alabama lacked a sign on its 18th Street side until 2017, when a replica of the previous sign was created and installed. The theater received a financial boost for the sign that year, winning a $120,000 preservation grant in an online contest sponsored by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The new 18th Street sign made its official debut on New Year’s Eve 2017, illuminated at midnight during a celebration that marked the Alabama’s 90th anniversary. More 150,000 people visit the theater each year for concerts, movies, dance recitals, theater performances and other events, organizers said.