Can the 70-year-old landmark Kitty Pappas Steakhouse sign be saved?

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WOODS CROSS, Utah — A Woods Cross man is putting out a plea to save a 70-year landmark — an old neon sign that could soon be shut off for good.

The Kitty Pappas Steakhouse shut down last June. It will soon be gone. Still, George Pappas is hopeful the huge neon sign will remain.

If you've been through Woods Cross over the past 70 years, you've likely noticed this neon sign for the old Kitty Papas Steak House. It could soon be gone. Hear about one man's hopes and efforts to save it, on @KSL5TV at 10pm. pic.twitter.com/68LAr7fnl1

— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) September 20, 2022

In the push for progress, we often see the past fade away.

“Too many of them plastic signs out and about.”

George said this steakhouse was more than a family business.

“Uh, it’s been a wonderful life here,” he said. They lived in the attached residence, too.

“And so, my mom, having three kids, she pulled her bootstraps up and took care of business.”

Katherine, better known as Kitty Pappas, did it alone. Her husband, John, died when George was just 2 years old.

“She had customers that were fifth generation customers,” George said. “It’s been a wonderful relationship with the public and the community.”

But compounding struggles came to a head during the pandemic.

“June 30th was our last day.”

And less than a month later, they also said goodbye to Kitty.

“She was 92 years old. It was a life like Dick Clark. She was going 1,000 miles an hour, didn’t appear to be aging, then in them last two years, it all caught up with her,” George said.

And while the building is next to go, George is hopeful the sign can stay. He’s been garnering support online and will take his plea to the Woods Cross City Council Tuesday during the public comment portion of their regular meeting.

“And I’m going to propose it to them,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll find the right words and be able to say it in the right way.”

 He asks that others will show up to the meeting with him, which is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m.

“For it to be gone, it would just be a shame.”

After living and working here — serving and helping cut those steaks — George is hoping city leaders might see some value in that one last piece that’s stood for seven decades, finding some way to save it.

“That’d be sweet.”

George said the building will likely be torn down next month to make room for an expansion of the car dealership next door.

We reached out to Woods Cross City to see whether they’d consider helping in this, but did not get a call back before office closed Monnday.