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Back in 2011, fans of Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop (1987) launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a life-size statue of the iconic cyborg. Now, after 15 years of planning, casting, and repeated setbacks, the Detroit RoboCop statue is at last in place at Eastern Market.
The original RoboCop film was set in a dystopian, near-future Detroit, making it the perfect location for the statue. Complete with the character’s iconic armor and helmet, the impressive, 11-foot-tall, 3,500-pound bronze sculpture was created by Giorgio Gikas and his team at Venus Bronze Works. It was installed on Wednesday, Dec. 3, along Russell Street, where RoboCop fans from across the country have already been making the trip to see it finally standing in pride of place.
The project was fully funded by around 2,700 backers when it was launched by The Imagination Station over a decade ago, but progress stalled as it ran into several logistical hurdles. The Michigan Science Center backed out of hosting the statue in 2021, saying the pandemic forced them to redirect their resources. The project then sat in limbo until about three years ago, when Jim Toscano, co-owner of the Free Age film production company, bought a building in Eastern Market. When the statue’s creators reached out, he quickly agreed to hosting the statue, saying, “It’s too unusual and too cool not to do.”
The RoboCop statue is a symbol of hope in Detroit, and marks the beginning of bringing more public art to the city. “This is just the beginning, not only of the physical creation and installation of the statue, but of a wider crowdfunded revolution we’re all participating in, where things like this can actually happen,” said Imagination Station Detroit in a recent Kickstarter update. “We’re proud to be a part of it with you, proud to be representing Detroit, and proud to roll into the future RoboStarter style.”
You can find the new RoboCob statue at 3434 Russell Street, Detroit, MI 48207 in the Eastern Market neighborhood. Check it out below.
After 15 years of planning, casting, and repeated setbacks, the Detroit RoboCop statue is at last in place at Eastern Market, Detroit.
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The 11-foot-tall, 3,500-pound bronze sculpture was created by Giorgio Gikas and his team at Venus Bronze Works.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Venus Bronze Works: Instagram
Source: Detroit Needs A Statue of Robocop!
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