One of Salina’s most recognizable historic signs is one step closer to returning to the north end of downtown.

Salina311 has confirmed the H.D. Lee Flour Mills Company sign has been rebuilt, marking a major step in the effort to return the sign to the former mill property at 343 N. Santa Fe Avenue.

The next step is expected to come before the Salina Heritage Commission, which is scheduled to consider a request for Historic Sign designation for the H.D. Lee Flour Mills Company sign. The application, filed by Travis Young, asks the city to allow the sign to be reinstalled with exemptions from standard sign regulations. The property is located near the southwest corner of North Santa Fe Avenue and Pine Street.

The request does not simply involve putting up a new sign. It involves the return of a piece of Salina’s industrial identity.

The former H.D. Lee Flour Mill is one of the city’s most visible historic structures. The mill site dates back to the late 1800s and was tied to the growth of the H.D. Lee Flour Mills Company, which began operations in Salina in 1899. The property later became known not only for its industrial history, but also for the large-scale mural painted on the grain elevators in 2021.

The H.D. Lee sign had previously been removed from the top of the old mill for refurbishment. At the time, plans called for the sign to be restored, illuminated and eventually returned to its place above the north end of downtown.

With the sign now rebuilt, the city’s historic sign process becomes the next formal step.

If approved, the designation would allow the sign to be reinstalled under historic sign provisions rather than being treated like a standard new commercial sign. That distinction matters because historic signs often do not fit modern sign codes, especially when they were originally designed for large industrial buildings from a different era. Tiny shock: old Salina was not built around today’s zoning spreadsheets.

For many residents, the sign is more than metal and lettering. It is part of the skyline connected to the former mill, the mural, and the north Santa Fe corridor.

The Heritage Commission hearing gives the city a chance to decide whether the rebuilt sign should return as part of Salina’s visible historic landscape.