Blue light special
After a fire gutted Old Main in 1983, the construction process, culminating with the placement of a neon letter A on its rooftop, began. After 14 years of construction, the roof finally donned the “A” as a symbol of Utah State University throughout Cache Valley in time for the 1997-1998 school year, said Chief of Staff Craig Petersen.
The four A’s that adorn the roof of Old Main’s tower each stand 22 feet tall, said Dale Nye, foreman at Young Electric Sign Company (YesCo) in Ogden.
Robert Hill, foreman of facilities operations at the electric shop at USU, said USU employs YesCo to repair the neon letters which tower over the school.
Nye said each of the four A’s is constructed of approximately 25 sections of five-to-eight-foot glass tubing.
Glass tubing is not as easy to replace as normal light bulbs, Hill said.
“They have to remake a section each time it goes out,” he said.
The ledge on which the A’s rest is approximately 105 feet from the ground, Nye said. Since each A stands 22 feet tall, the point of each A is a dizzying 127 feet from the ground. YesCo workers were 127 feet above USU Thursday to repair some burned secondary wiring in the A, Nye said.
“It was a fun job,” he said.
Nye said YesCo charges USU $50 for each section of glass and $50 per man per hour to work on the rooftop light.
“Both lights [white and blue] can be seen from at least 10 miles,” Hill said.
Petersen said the white A light is triggered by an optical sensor each day and a special switch located in the president’s office and another located at the Facilities Building are used to turn on the blue A light for special recognition at USU.
“The blue light policy was passed late last semester,” Petersen said.
He said the president’s executive committee comprised of President Kermit L. Hall and the provosts, vice presidents and chief of staff is the group that passed the blue light policy.
According to the blue light policy, the blue light outlining the “A” on Old Main tower is to be used to celebrate athletic and special university events and achievements of students, faculty and staff. The frugal use of the blue light is key if its distinctiveness and special meaning is to remain.
“There is a blue-light alert on the Web page [on days it is lit in blue],” Petersen said.
He said the alert allows students to learn why the “A” is lit in blue on each occasion.