The big sign telling visitors “Welcome to Lake Murray” is almost complete.

Micah Decker, vice president of marketing for the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board, told the Chronicle that the letters are in for the landmark at the intersection of S.C. Highways 6 and 60, greeting drivers at the north end of the Lake Murray Dam. Bricks for the surrounding patio are set to be laid by the end of the week. 

“Then landscaping goes in, including hydroseed which will take a couple weeks to take root,” she said.

The sign spells out “Lake Murray” in four-foot-tall letters and is set to be approximately 10-12 feet wide and 55-60 feet long. The hope, when Capital City/Lake Murray Country got set to begin work in June, was to complete it by late summer — ahead of the USA XVI Black Bass World Championship, which takes place this week.

While the patio and landscaping are still in progress, the lettering and splashing water background are there to welcome anglers to the event, the opening ceremony of which is set for Oct. 17.

“For years we never have known that Lake Murray needed some iconic welcome feel to it, signage,” Miriam Atria, president and CEO of the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board, told the Chronicle in June.

The tourism board paid for the sign, drawing on the money it generates by selling ads on its website and in its publications and through the gift store at its Lake Murray Country Visitor Center on North Lake Drive.