Peters, who lives in German Twp., has added the 1925 Kraus-Heinze pagoda style light to his collection.
The light had done its work “from the time they had cars on campus until the 1970s,” Peters said.
The signal and its 12 lenses “came in nine boxes, and UPS shipping was $298,” said Peters, who estimates its value at $5,000.
The boxes were shipped from the Alaska retirement home of Bob Wilkinson, an OSU grad who taught geology at the university for 15 years.
“My first acquaintanceship with the light was a student in the early ’60s,” said Wilkinson, who is 66. “I had a car stall directly underneath it on the way to a student party.”
Later, when he was in engineering school, Wilkinson was involved in a project surveying underground water on campus, and there was an observation station right by the light.
Then, as changes were being made in the Oval in the 1970s, “I could see it going on from my perch in Orton Hall,” he said.
When the light was removed, Wilkinson contacted a friend in the salvage department, “and it was about six months later I got the light,” he said.
Wilkinson had the light hooked up and working in his retirement home. One year, to the amusement of one Roscoe T. Cat, Wilkinson and wife, Char, decorated it up as a Christmas tree.
But with plans to live on a boat for a couple of years, the Wilkinsons have downsized to a condominium and have had to part with Bob’s antique fishing equipment (now on display in an Anchorage museum) and the light.
Learning about its availability through a club he belongs to, Peters contacted Wilkinson and at first said he felt like the guy in a Monty Python movie who had to answer questions before being allowed to cross a bridge.
Three of what Wilkinson called his “pre-adoption questions” were:
• Would you likely keep the signal light in Ohio?
• Would you leave it yellow or restore it to its original color (dark green)?
• If you had it and we came to visit, can we go to Young’s?
A University of Dayton graduate, Peters plans to keep the signal in Ohio and will allow the visit to Young’s if Wilkinson shows up. He also plans to keep the light yellow, as it was at the end of its OSU career.
After the “adoption,” Wilkinson, who grew up in Van Wert and remembers flying to the Springfield airport during the summers, sent smoked salmon and wild blueberry jam to celebrate.
He said he talked to “quite a few people” before giving the green light to the deal with Peters.
The keys to his decision, he said: “It goes back to Ohio, where it belongs, and it goes to someone who will preserve and protect it.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
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