Lights out, Mill Mountain.

Starting Saturday, the mountain that looms over downtown Roanoke will be unusually dark for about a week as workers turn off power to the Mill Mountain Star to overhaul its aging electrical system.

City officials want to prevent unexpected power loss in the star by replacing almost all of its electrical components, many of which have been in use since it was built in 1949.

Workers from Virginia Electrical Services, which also rewired the Dr Pepper and H&C Coffee signs downtown, will maneuver around the star while hoisted by ropes, replacing the electrical transformers and installing about two and a half miles of new wires in the 88-foot structure, said the company's president, Robert Simmons.

The $100,000 project, which will darken the star for likely the longest period in its history, is a necessity, said Gareth McAllister, facilities manager for the city.

"This is almost like building it again, except the structure's already here," he said.

Though the star will be off for eight days or fewer, the project will take an estimated 45 days. The entire site may be closed to the public for one or two days next week.

This overhaul has been in the works for more than two years. In 2004, the city started by commissioning a study of the star's electrical system. Based on the study's results, the overhaul was planned.

"I'm three years on the job, and about six or eight months into it I realized how important this star is to the city," McAllister said. "And that begged the question -- how stable is it?"

About 50 transformers from 1949 currently keep the 20,000-watt star shining by controlling electricity flowing into the neon tubing. As its parts grow increasingly unreliable with age, McAllister worries that multiple transformer failures could place the city in a major bind.

When a transformer breaks, they have to find a replacement from another vintage sign that operated off the same transformers. Those transformers are no longer manufactured and can be difficult to find. In the past three years, they've had to replace two or three of the transformers, McAllister said.

"Where we sit today, if we did not to the renovation, we are at the mercy of having to find those old vintage transformers," McAllister said. "If we were to lose two or three [transformers] at a time, we could find ourselves in a country-wide search."

Over the weekend, workers started the prep work for the project. On Wednesday, ropes for the pulley system they'll use to maneuver themselves about the structure dangled from the star, ready for use.

When workers flip off the power Saturday, they'll start with the inner-most of the star's three layers, and work their way out, Simmons said.

They'll install modern transformers and replace outdated electrical wire enclosures and cracked and rusted tubing that protects the wires. Neon tubing that is broken also will be replaced.

With the new electric system, the star will require significantly less maintenance and will be slightly more energy efficient, Simmons said. Maintenance costs now run $1,500 to $1,600 annually, and the electric bill runs between $2,000 and $3,000 annually.

Throughout the week, when each of the three layers is complete, they'll try to light it up, Simmons said. When the project is complete, they'll keep the star on constantly for about a week to test the new system, Simmons said. The star is typically turned on via a timer from 8 p.m. to midnight in the summer and 5 p.m. to midnight in the winter.

The city gave Virginia Electrical Services 60 days to do the project, but because the star is so visible they wanted to work faster than usual, Simmons said.

The company, as Simmons puts it, is now "three for three" in caring for the city's most visible landmarks, and they take a certain pride in that.

"It makes us a part of something that typically we wouldn't get to do," Simmons said.

This project comes after replacement of the observation deck at the star and will be followed by construction of a restroom facility in that area likely to start by the end of the year, said Gary Hegner, Roanoke's Parks and Recreation superintendent.

It was quiet Wednesday evening on Mill Mountain, as Virginia Electrical Services workers packed up from a day of prep work.

But loyal star fan Wayne Moss of Roanoke took a moment after walking on the mountain's trails to look out over the city. He goes up to the star once every few days after his exercise and says it's a good tourist attraction for the city.

"A lot of people come here from out of town," he said. "So it [the star] makes a good impression about the city."

It attracts people like Jenny Baker, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who is on vacation in the area and said Wednesday night the star was one of several attractions in the area she couldn't leave without seeing.

Emily Gallagher and Mark Maull, girlfriend and boyfriend who live in Roanoke, come up to the star a few times a year. Gallagher's desktop background on her computer is a photo she took of the star.

"I think it's a great idea," Maull said of the renovation. "It's what makes the star city the star city. It wouldn't be the same without it."