A Sea Of Red

LU putting its mark on mountain
By Ron Brown
rbrown@newsadvance.com
Friday, September 15, 2006


L U

In just a few days, those two letters, symbolic of Liberty University, will be part of the Candlers Mountain landscape in Lynchburg.

LU has already started cutting trees to give the 200-foot letters their shape. When completed, the letters - called a mountain monogram - should be visible to travelers along U.S. 460, shoppers at River Ridge mall and football fans at LU’s Williams Stadium.The appearance of the letters, which each will cover two-thirds of a football field in length, is still a work in progress. They will be placed on the mountain across from the former Ericsson plant, now LU’s North Campus. School officials are following a suggestion from Lynchburg city officials, who want the letters to be made out of trees or other vegetation. “If we stick with the vegetation, we’ll have to plant evergreens or you won’t see it at all during the winter,” said Jerry Falwell Jr., LU’s vice chancellor. If vegetation doesn’t work, the school will make the letters out of white landscaping stone. LU has called in lighting experts to determine how best to illuminate the letters at night. One suggestion is to use solar panels and batteries to give the letters light. “We think it is going to look pretty sharp,” said S. Lee Beaumont, LU’s director of auxiliary services. Falwell said the process of making the letters right could take a year or more. “The city of Lynchburg asked us to experiment with letters made of vegetation first,” he said. “So we are cutting trees on three acres except for the trees that are in the letters themselves. So the first letters you’ll see will be made out of trees.”Falwell is not sure that the letters made from trees will be visible enough. Early next week, Williams Electrical Supply, a Roanoke firm, will place test lights at the base of the trees to see if the letters will show up. “There’s going to be a lot of trial and error on this project,” Falwell said. “Green against green might not work very well. There is no reference manual you can read that would tell you how to make a mountain monogram.” Out West, colleges such as Brigham Young University and Arizona State University have monograms on surrounding mountainsides. The Brigham Young monogram is a huge “Y” and the Arizona State monogram is a large “A”. “We had a local firm, Perkins & Orrison, survey the area for us,” Beaumont said. “They surveyed a three-acre oval. Then they surveyed the outer edges of the ‘L’ and ‘U’. So our guys, who are up there cutting, know not to cut inside the purple flags.” Once the letters are completed, Falwell hopes they will become part of LU tradition.“Most of the colleges that have mountain monograms, the students become the ones taking care of the letters,” he said. “It becomes a school spirit type of thing. Each class adds something unique. This will be something that we’ll be working on for years.”

This story can be found at: http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... 2024&path=

Go Back

We already had a thread on this one this morning. But thanks for pointing it out again. I've moved this one fromt he football forum over to the Lynhcburg Life.

I'm excited about this. It's true, it's all over the Franklin Mtns. in El Paso, TX. Almost every highschool has their monogram on the mountain but the one school that keeps up the tradition of keeping it clean and "fired up" is my ole' alma mater, Austin High School. Nothing gave us more pride than seeing that "A" on the mountain, especially since it stood out more than the others. Our school would also go the extra mile and set it ablaze on Friday nights for the home football games - it was an awesome site to see!! I'll try to find a picture of it and post it in here. Wouldn't it be neat if we could do that with LU???? We are the Flames afterall!!!

You are from El Paso and lived to tell about it?

Un Poco Norte de cuidad mejor de Juarez


You are correct that up and down the Rocky Mtn portion of the country that not only colleges but high schools have done this forever.

Not born but raised in El Paso!! It's "back home" to me. Miss it very much....especially that Mexican "home cookin"!! Send me up some real tamales, enchiladas, flautas and the breakfast for champions...menudo!!!!

I personally draw the line at menudo. Taquitos are just fine with me for desayuno.

Oh come on, not a real Texan or football fan if you don't join in the menudo feasts after all the football games!!! Come on, give it try!! . . . . .I'm making myself hungry now!!

After nearly two decades in Texas (most spent in South Texas) and nearly a decade married into a familia Tejana I have had ample opportunity to develop a taste. Its not happening.

Back to the 'LU', I'm curious to see what this is going to look like with the trees. Out west they generally use the painted rock.

Sly Fox wrote:After nearly two decades in Texas (most spent in South Texas) and nearly a decade married into a familia Tejana I have had ample opportunity to develop a taste. Its not happening.

Back to the 'LU', I'm curious to see what this is going to look like with the trees. Out west they generally use the painted rock.

Yes, you're correct. We had a club (Phi-Chi) who devoted their time and money to "white-washing" the "A". Here's a pic of it lit up at night.

Aerial view:

Of course it is much easier to spot the 'A' on a desert mountain thsan it will be in Lynchburg. Is that 'A' lit up with fire or lights?

I wonder if the letters will be interlocking or just a plain L and U next to each other.

Sly Fox wrote:Of course it is much easier to spot the 'A' on a desert mountain thsan it will be in Lynchburg. Is that 'A' lit up with fire or lights?

It's fire!! Click on this link to read it's history: http://austin.episd.org/alumni/a_mountain.html

That's a very good question. I hadn't even thought about that. I'm guessing they will be separated to make it clear from a distance.

That is extremely cool, bozlady. Does drought affect the lighting? Then agaian, if there is no vegetation up there what could burn?

Here is a link I found while researching out what a mountain monogram looked like:

http://deuceofclubs.com/mts/y.htm


Here is an example I was able to come across:

I was expecting JF, RD, Rocco, and Ron Godwin to all be looking down upon us.

A.G. wrote:I was expecting JF, RD, Rocco, and Ron Godwin to all be looking down upon us.

You forgot Dr. Towns.

And Art Williams.

I guess that would be your final four on the mountain: JF, Townes, Williams, and Godwin.

An LU version of Mt. Rushmore...too funny.

Of course SLY waits until I post to lock it!!!

Well let's see, they are trying to imitate Dollyworld so why not Mt Rushmore??? OF course its new name would be something like Mt Givemore or Mt ........ can't think of anything. Of course they could have taped sermons coming from Jerrys' mouth and call it "Sermons On The Mount" That is sort of Biblical

Of course, it would be a toll road to go see it up close. A little collection plate instead of a basket to drop your quarters in to. Perhaps I need to trademark that idea.

(And students could use their Liberty One cards.)

or like los angeles used to have, and somewhere in one of the dakotas i think cant remember, they should have a huge statue of jesus, or a huge statue of buddy jesus and jerry with a big thumbs up, up at the top of the mountain over looking the city

qkslvrsrfrboy wrote:or like los angeles used to have, and somewhere in one of the dakotas i think cant remember, they should have a huge statue of jesus, or a huge statue of buddy jesus and jerry with a big thumbs up, up at the top of the mountain over looking the city

Only if the statues are bobble heads so that when the wind blows they bobble.

anybody noticed the big cleared out section a couple mountains over? I know everybody seems to think this is a stupid idea or a waste of money but I really think this is gonna be neat. Did they ever decide if it was gonna be hollywood letters or natural plantlife or what?