I'll never understand Boston's obsession with the Citgo sign. I'd be happy to see it torn down. It's tacky and out of place, not to mention it's idolizing a primary contributor to climate change and a failed communist state.
+1
Kenmore, like a mini version of Times Square, is a great place for a large, garish, Iconic Thing®, useful in wayfinding and placemaking. I would never want to lose that.
The natural, urban thing for Kenmore is that it have the buildings that go with being a major transit-and-leisure hub,
including real ads for real stuff.
By now, the CITGO sign is as fake as the unicorn and lions on the Old State House, an icon for a commercially-dead brand, but at least at theOld State House the building & brand are a historic whole.
Imagine if New Yorkers had grown too attached to the signs at the center of Times Square that read "Canadian Club" and "Admiral Television Appliances" (for 30 years?) We'd think them ridiculous if they'd grown so attached to it that they couldn't let real urban commerce and density happen at the apex of Times Square.
...or Milani 1890 french dressing, or CUE toothpaste, or...