The "C" on the hill in Cañon City is approximately 55' by 45' and after a recent revitalization it is expected to be maintenance free for fifty years. A senior project for a local high school student involved researching the history of this letter on a hill, which was first built in 1969 by local students.
The C can be viewed from the State Armory, on the east side of the prison, (just south of the Museum of Colorado Prisons), and also from the pedestrian bridge between Veterans Park and Centennial Park, just south of the posted coordinates, across Highway 50.
Here is the story of the most current "C", revitalized for Cañon City's sesquicentennial. (Read the whole story and history of the C at this link): (
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In recent years, it started to fade again, which is when CCHS sophomore Katelyn McBroom noticed it.
“We were driving down the road one day, my dad was telling me that there was a ‘C’ on the mountain, but you could barely see it,” she said. “It looked pretty bad. He said someone should go up there and fix it.”
That inspired Katelyn to look into seeing what it would take to freshen it up. However, in her quest for information, she learned that efforts already were underway to revitalize the project in honor of Cañon City’s sesquicentennial.
She joined in the effort with Cañon City’s park department and volunteers from Fremont Adventure Recreation on Feb. 18 to haul materials and construct a larger, more durable “C” over the fading rocks. She also decided to do her graduation capstone project on the history of the “C.”
She researched the project at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center and conducted interviews with some of the individuals who helped construct the original “C.”
“The history center had very limited history on this,” she said. “When I am done collecting the history, I will give it to them, also.”
Because of her research, Katelyn was able to debunk some false accounts of how the “C” was built.
“People believed that inmates from Old Max Prison made it, but we don’t think that happened because of all of these accounts of the (former) students,” she said.
Rex Brady, Cañon City’s Parks and Open Space Director, and his crew were tasked with designing, building and installing the updated “C.” Jesse Young was the lead man on the project which is 55' feet by 45 feet. It is constructed with a wood frame and covered with steel roofing.
“We tried to build right over the white rocks,” Brady said. “It was quite a project because it doesn’t look like it from town, but it’s on a really steep slope.”
Parks crews and volunteers from FAR hauled more than a ton and a half of concrete bags to the site. They also jackhammered holes into solid rock to plant the posts.
“Basically, it’s a really, really short roof in the shape of a ‘C’,” Brady said. “It has a 50-year warranty so we shouldn’t have to paint the ‘C’ for quite some time. It will be pretty maintenance-free and a nice addition to the community.”
The “C” also will be illuminated from dark until midnight year-round, beginning Saturday during the city’s jubilee celebration.
“We didn’t want to have it blaring bright light, we wanted it to be a glow,” Brady said. “That’s what it turned out to be. We think as far as the lumens go and the brightness of it, it turned out perfect.”
While Brady didn’t have to go before the warden for approval of the project, he did contact DOC every time the workers would be up there so that they would be aware of who was on prison property. Brady reminds the community that trespassing is prohibited on DOC property.
A fireworks display will be lit on Skyline Drive at 8 p.m. Saturday to celebrate the lighting of the revitalized “C.”