BOSTON (AP) -- The iconic red, white and blue Citgo sign visible over Fenway Park's famous Green Monster in left field is going dark for a couple months for an extreme makeover.

The Venezuelan oil company says 218,000 LED lights on the 3,600-square-foot sign will be replaced with more environmentally friendly and weather-resistant lights.

The more than 9,000 feet of lights on the 45-year-old sign were replaced five years ago, but those lights that saved $18,000 a year in energy costs are now out of production.

The sign went dark for four years starting in 1979 at the height of the energy crisis, and in 1982 Citgo announced plans to dismantle it.

But the sign stayed after an uproar from Red Sox fans.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/07/22/red.sox.citgo.ap/index.html#ixzz0uT5I6oDg