CEU Letters Returning to Wood Hill Location

By Sun Advocate

The wait for warm weather is the only barrier between the College of Eastern Utah’s plans to return the school letters to Wood Hill in Price.
The CEU letters, which will be placed on the same site where the original foundation was located, will sit in a 30 foot frame and be 15 feet wide. Eight-foot tall letters will headline the structure, in addition to a large eagle’s head, the school mascot.
A self-sustaining lighting system will be added to illuminate the letters. Initial plans are to keep the structure lit on a constant basis.
It is unknown exactly why or when the original structure collapsed, but it has been missing from the area for nearly 20 years, according to CEU Student Body President Daniel Wood.
Wood and his fellow officers from the college’s student council have been designing the reintroduction of the letters as their yearly campus project.
He said the council hopes the letters will serve as positive reminder to the community of the college’s presence.
“The community has kind of separated from the college and we want to give them a reminder that we are here,” commented Wood. “Neither the college nor the community can survive without each other. We are intertwined.”
Using internal resources, the welding department took over construction of the large letters with a plasma cutter. Funding for the project came primarily from excess student body funds, with contributions from CEU President Ryan Thomas’ funds.
Approval for the project hit a small snag when a reading from the Geographic Information System indicated that part of the structure fell on Price City property. However, the Price City Council has already indicated that it will approve the construction in its next regular meeting.
The building permits have been approved and the majority of the structure has been completed. The council is currently waiting for the weather to warm up enough for the concrete base to be poured.
Wood Hill is located in the northwestern area of Price and is visible from many points in the city.
Wood projects that the rebuilt structure should be finished before students leave for spring break in March.
“I think the weather will be the only thing that will hold us up now,” he concluded.
CEU has been a major educational force in Carbon County since 1937, when it was established as Carbon College by the Utah legislature.