CSU Students Paint the ‘A’

There are few things that last 90 years, so when you have a tradition that dates back almost that far it can be something very special. This weekend 150 Colorado State University students hiked up to the "A" above Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins for it's annual paint job.

When i was young I always wondered why there was a huge "A" in the mountains near Fort Collins. Fort Collins didn't start with an "A", CSU didn't have an "A" in it, Rams starts with an "R", I always wondered what the "A" was for. Actually, as most Fort Collins residents know, the iconic “A” stands for Aggies, in honor of the university’s former name, Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

It took six hours on Dec. 12, 1923, to build; the following fall, its dimensionless were expanded to its current size of 450 feet high and 210 feet wide.Because the university didn’t own land used to construct the “A” at the time, the college and governing board negotiated a lease of the land from R.G Maxwell for $1.

Now every August students make the trip up to the "A" to freshen up the paint for the new school year. But with the idea of a new on-campus football stadium looming it begs the question, will the "A" go away with Hughes? Or will the 89-year-old Fort Collins landmark survive the change?