Many have experienced the big “O” on top of Skinner’s Butte. Below and to the south of the giant flag on the summit sits our big, and usually yellow “O,” symbolic of Eugene’s ties to the University of Oregon, only a short distance away, as the duck flies. At times, the “O” mysteriously changes color, usually when other collegiate sports teams are competing against our Ducks.
The current “O,” born on 17 May 1958, is the fifth generation and was listed in the National Registry of Historic Places in 2010 Prominent at 20′ x 30′ in size, the big “O” has been the target of “kidnappings,” fires, and numerous dynamite attacks, many of which, were Beaver-based. In fact, its construction of thick, plate-steel, embedded in reinforced concrete, was chosen to minimize collateral damage after clandestine dynamite attacks (not kidding.
It has been painted other hideous colors, then subsequently repainted yellow, too many times to count, having over 200 layers of paint. Painting wasn’t always done by brush, either, but often by the bottoms of underclassmen, and an occasional hapless Beaver or two.
