When Bobby Simmons launched a sign company as a subsidiary of Virginia Electrical Service, he did not expect to land the two biggest jobs in downtown Roanoke.

The landmark H&C Coffee and Dr Pepper signs serve as excellent references when meeting prospective clients.

"I kind of got the monopoly on the historic signs," Simmons joked.

Sunday morning, crews from Virginia Sign Works and B&B Welding & Crane Service lowered the Dr Pepper sign from the Market Place Center on Salem Avenue.

The Dr Pepper sign "is a piece of history here," Troy Harris, Dr Pepper regional sales manager, said. "It is something people can use to identify Roanoke's skyline."

It is no secret Roanokers love their Dr Pepper. The soda company acknowledges Roanoke as the biggest consumer of Dr Pepper east of the Mississippi River.

From July 18 through October 8, eight cents from each case of Dr Pepper sold in the Roanoke Valley went into a fund to restore the sign. Harris said the goal of more than $30,000 was reached.

After a complete refurbishment, Harris said the sign is slated to be moved to the Legg Mason building on Campbell Avenue.

Roanoke's architecture review board has approved the move, but several permits sill need to be obtained to finalize it.

The Legg Mason building is located across Campbell Avenue from the Shenandoah Hotel. Last month, the refurbished H&C Coffee sign was hoisted to its new home atop the Shenandoah Hotel.

The landmark signs share a similar historyboth were erected during the 1940s, both were in dire need of repair and if they were not moved, the view of both would be blocked from Interstate 581 by the multi-million dollar art museum to be built behind Billy's Ritz restaurant between Salem Avenue and Market Street. Groundbreaking for the museum was Sept. 10.

"We planned to do a refurbishment before we found out about the art museum," Harris said. After the art museum plans were unveiled, Harris said the company's mission shifted to "finding a place where the sign is visible and relatively close to the H&C sign."

The time frame for repairs on the Dr Pepper sign is not known yet, but Harris said he expects a relighting ceremony to be held in December or January.

A ceremony to relight the H&C Coffee sign will be held Nov. 14, Kathy Kinsey, spokeswoman for Downtown Roanoke, Inc., said.

On Friday, Kinsey said DRI was $15,000 short of the $170,000 goal to restore and move the H&C sign.