CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 30-foot tall, brushed stainless steel "Tower of Light" will leave no doubt that you have arrived at Cleveland State University.

The tower, expected to cost about $100,000, will be on the tree lawn in the 2600 block of Euclid Avenue. It will be on the south side of the street, just east of the Euclid Commons student housing complex.

Scheduled for completion in April, the tower will be the first of four that CSU plans to erect to designate the perimeters of the downtown campus. There is no timetable for installing the remaining three.

Each side of the 4-foot-wide square tower includes a cutout of the words "Cleveland State University," which will be lighted from within at night. The top of the tower is clear, so when the university hosts a major event -- such as commencement, homecoming or sports tournaments -- an interior spotlight will project a beam up to 2,000 feet into the sky.

The university will pay for the first tower with capital funds but hopes to pay for the others through donations, said Rob Spademan, assistant vice president for university marketing.

University officials, including President Ronald Berkman and former President Michael Schwartz, have discussed for years how to create gateways to the campus, especially as the university has expanded in the city, said Spademan.

Ideas that were eventually discarded included a "Welcome to CSU" arch over Euclid Avenue. CSU officials, in collaboration with the Flourish Inc. design agency, determined a "Tower of Light" would be a "high-impact campus marker," according to information presented to the Cleveland Planning Commission. Two sides of the tower would be painted "CSU green."

The Planning Commission and the city's Design Review Committee and Infrastructure & Streetscape Advisory Committee approved the tower last month, said Jack Baumann, a project manager in CSU's division of capital planning.

Other towers may be placed on Chester Avenue at East 24th and East 18th streets and on Euclid Avenue near East 18th Street, although that site is under review because of CSU's expansion into PlayhouseSquare, Spademan said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: kfarkas@plaind.com, 216-999-5079