Publisher’s Note: This article is part of a series that reviews the history of Utah and the United States for the Historical section of KSL.com.
OGDEN – Let’s call it the end of an era for a 40 year old slice of Weber State University campus.
The crews demolished the Dee Events Center marquee this week, which has become a relic of the latest technology of the past. It was demolished to simplify the route for a new express bus transit system to Ogden.
The Dee Events Center opened in 1977, but if you’ve been there you know that the building is located away from one of its main entrances on Harrison Boulevard. Therefore, the desire arose for a marquee that would inform people about the entrance and the events at the venue.
“It was like a prominent entrance just to highlight this new facility being built in Ogden,” said Crystal Taylor, who is currently director of event facilities and parking at Weber State University.
The large brick gateway was fitted with fluorescent and incandescent electronic signage that could light up messages. At that time, there were very few similar items in the city.
Dean Hurst, the school’s then presidential assistant, said the purpose of the marquee was “to provide an element of visibility to identify the center while also providing a vehicle for campus-related and relevant news,” the report said in a January 1980 issue of the Weber State Signpost.
An undated photo of the Dee Events Center marquee. The marquee became operational in December 1979, two years after the arena opened. (Photo: Weber State University)
The art installation cost over $ 200,000 at the time, which is over $ 725,000 today when inflation is taken into account. Most of the funds came from the Edith Dee Mack Green Foundation, reported the student newspaper at the time.
The fancy electronic sign could be controlled using a computer in an event center office. Taylor said she heard all sorts of stories about this operating system from her predecessor, former long-time university employee Jody Lake. Lake was working in the secretariat when the marquee was fully operational.
“She said it was state-of-the-art at the time it was built,” Taylor said, recalling those conversations, adding that Lake would have to drive north to a company in Logan every week for classes using the computer to get and customize the sign’s messages manually.
This marquee displayed news for many of the most important events in the history of the Dee Events Center. For example, the arena hosted the 1983 men’s NCAA West Regional Finals tournament, in which legendary coach Jim Valvano led the state of North Carolina past Virginia to reach the Final Four and eventually an NCAA championship.
In addition to Weber State and other NCAA circles, the center has also been home to various musical, political, and cultural icons over the course of four decades. Participants likely traveled through the sign on their way.
But the marquee and its shield suffered the fate of almost all technical parts. Over the years the structure became obsolete and the sign became obsolete, even a burden on the school.
“It got more and more problematic to try and program,” said Taylor. “Some patches and fixes were made. … It was getting on in years and no upgrades were available.”
Taylor said it finally stopped working about a decade ago, adding that administrators were discussing the possibility of replacing the shield with new technology, but ultimately nothing came of it.
A new idea to include the Weber State Campus emerged when all of this was taking place. The Utah Transit Authority began planning a high-speed bus transit system from the Ogden FrontRunner station to McKay-Dee Hospital, between downtown Ogden and the Weber State campus.
It was eventually determined that it would be an easier route for the bus system without the marquee getting in the way. The university posted on Facebook that the marquee would come down last month and posted a video on Twitter on the Wednesday of the demolition.
Goodbye marquee. pic.twitter.com/k7iAT0J38e
– Weber State University (@WeberStateU) March 31, 2021
The marquee served its purpose.
Regarding the new technology it is replacing, UTA announced Monday that 4400 South on the Weber State campus will be temporarily closed for the next few weeks to allow construction of the bus route in the area.
Construction of a stop for the Dee Events Center is expected to be completed in 2022. The start of the service is currently planned for the end of 2023. This is based on a schedule set by the agency.
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