Dec. 5 (UPI) — An 11-foot-tall bronze statue of science fiction hero RoboCop has been installed in Detroit after nearly 15 years of planning.
The 2.5-ton sculpture, which depicts RoboCop as portrayed by actor Peter Weller in the eponymous 1987 film, was installed Wednesday outside the Free Age Production Studio in Detroit’s Eastern Market.
“I love it,” Jim Toscano, owner of Free Age Production Studio, told MLive. “It looks great, it’s super impressive and it has already brought a lot of nice people around.”
The story of the statue began in 2011, when then-Detroit Mayor Dave Bing responded to a tweet suggesting the city erect a statue of RoboCop. Bing said in the now-deleted tweet that there were “no plans” to install such a statue, but the exchange sparked the launch of a fan-led campaign to make the artwork a reality.
Brandon Walley, board president of the community arts group Imagination Station, and Jerry Paffendorf, co-founder and CEO of Loveland Technologies, launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $67,436 toward the effort.
The statue was crafted by Detroit sculptor Giorgio Gikas and completed in 2017, but placement continued to face delays from issues including legal clearance from MGM, which holds the rights to the character.
Walley said now that the statue is finally in place, plans are being started for an official welcome ceremony that will hopefully include an appearance by Weller.