Concrete for a refurbished block U is being poured, and the University of Utah plans to light it in time for the first home football game Sept. 9, the U. announced Thursday.
The block U renovation might not be completed by then, though. So an official lighting ceremony, with a slide show and presentation including Ira A. and Mary Lou Fulton, who matched individual donations in the "Renew the U" campaign, is set for halftime during the Oct. 5 game against Texas Christian University.
The refurbished block U, featured on the mountainside northeast of campus, will feature computer-controlled dancing red and white lights. The old U, created a century ago, for decades has flashed white lights to signal a Utah win and has displayed still lights in times of defeat.
But the letter on the hill is more than a game-day lighthouse.
"It serves as a symbol of opportunity ... for hundreds and hundreds of students," U. President Michael K. Young said.
The icon has weathered in the past century. The concrete was cracking, trees sprouting through its slabs, and between the gravel and the U a 2-foot gap grew due to hillside erosion.
"This will not do," recalled Sue Christensen, chairwoman of the U.'s National Advisory Council, who brought the problems to Young's attention and later chaired the Block U Committee.
The U's face-lift follows a $400,000 fund-raising campaign in which the Fultons pledged to match individual donations from students, alumni, faculty and staff, up to $1,000.
"I think I speak for all students in saying it's an honor to be involved in this renovation," said Matt Broadbent, former Student Alumni Board president. He was instrumental in the renovation drive, which started about a year ago.
Donations flowed, enough that $250,000 was left after renovation costs were covered, the U. announced. That extra money went to student scholarships.
The groundswell of support allowing for the renovation and scholarships surprised even Young.
"To be able to do both was really pretty exciting," he said.
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