If Mayor Mike Wiza’s wish doesn’t come true, he’s got a plan B: to create his own version of the towering sculpture that would be created out of recycled bags.
Wisconsin Mayor Mike Wiza is not giving up on trying to bring RoboCop to his city of Stevens Point, population 26,229 (2019 census).
The majestic, 11-foot, bronze replica of the '80s movie character would not only put Stevens Point on the map as a tourist destination but would honor actor Peter Weller, who played RoboCop in the franchise's first two films and who also happens to be a Stevens Point native.
However, if Mayor Wiza’s wish doesn’t come true, he’s got a plan B: to create his own version of the towering sculpture that, he said, would be made by fusing together recycled bags or he'd print a 3-D version of it.
"They didn't say it was a done deal,” Wiza told WAOW-ABC News9. “There's still a little bit of hope that the artists will see the significance of placing this statue in Peter Weller's hometown.”
The sculpture, created by an artists group out of Detroit called “Imagination Station,” was set to be on display at Michigan Science Center in Detroit, until officials announced last month that “they needed to concentrate resources elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Associated Press reported
Wiza told Wisconsin Radio that he’s been busy making calls to the artists and even reached out to Weller’s remaining family in the city to see if the actor would endorse bringing the statue to Stevens Point, according to the AP.
“I reached out, I started talking to people and trying to figure out, who do I talk to and say, 'hey, bring it to Stevens Point, we'd love to have a statue of RoboCop in Peter Weller's home town.'" Wiza told WAOW. “And of course, social media blew upon it. There were a lot of people supporting,”
Despite the efforts, RoboCop doesn’t seem to be going very far: It was reported that the artists may be inking a deal for another location in Detroit, News9 reported
Meanwhile, Wiza is gearing up for his backup plan, that "in his opinion," is "even cooler." Plus, he’s got others on board to help, including CREATE Portage County Executive Director Greg Wright.
"As the mayor said, if we can't get our hands on this Detroit statue, we think it would be fun to rally the community around trying to build our own,” Wright said News 9 reported. “We have some equipment at the IDEA Center we can use to do that and a couple of different strategies we think we could take to make something.”
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