Decorative Ben Lomond HS lettering on slope largely complete
-
- The new “BL” lettering on the mountain above Ben Lomond High School, photographed Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, from Ninth Street in Ogden.
-
- Doug Wimmer, Ben Lomond High School class of 1972, is spearheading efforts to replace the old “BL” emblem on the mountainside above the school. He’s pictured here on the mountain on Saturday, July 30, 2022, showing designs for the new emblem.
-
- The new “BL” lettering on the mountain above Ben Lomond High School, photographed Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, from Ninth Street in Ogden.
-
- The new “BL” emblem taking shape on the mountainside above Ben Lomond High School, photographed Friday, July 22, 2022. Doug Wimmer, Ben Lomond class of 1972, is spearheading the efforts.
-
- The new “BL” lettering on the mountain above Ben Lomond High School, photographed Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, from Ninth Street in Ogden.
OGDEN — The new “BL” lettering on the mountainside above Ben Lomond High School is largely complete, says Doug Wimmer, the 1972 grad who spearheaded the effort.
“We’ve got a lot done,” he said. “Man, it is standing out really well.”
About the only thing left to do, he said, is beef up the “L” on the intersecting letters with more pavers. But he’s hoping that with the help of students on Friday and again later in the month, the work will get done before the cold of winter sets in.
Wimmer, a proud Ben Lomond grad, launched the effort as the original lettering — which dates to 1969 or 1970 — became harder and harder to see. Neither Ogden School District nor Ben Lomond High School officials took part in the initiative.
As he started digging around, inquiring into the matter, reps from Rocky Mountain Power, owner of the right-of-way where the original lettering rested, asked that it be moved off their property.
Weber County Commissioners gave him the nod earlier this year to move the lettering onto county property, just up the mountain. Then over the summer, he and a crew of volunteers, including students and parents, hauled the pavers needed to create the new, wider lettering up the mountain and placed the blocks, slightly above the original BL combo, made of painted rocks.
Wimmer said he’s heard good things. “I’m pretty happy. We’ve got a lot of comments on it from alumni,” he said.
Some, though, worry about the environmental impact from people hiking around the site to place the blocks, painted white to stand out. “A lot of them just don’t think anything should be up on the mountain at all,” Wimmer said.
U.S. Forest Service officials, he went on, have broached the idea of making a defined trail to the lettering to prevent people from wandering the unmarked areas around it.
The effort has cost around $4,500 for rental of equipment and materials, though some of the blocks have been donated. The lettering measures around 127 feet from the top of the “B” to the bottom of the “L” and 70 feet across.