DETROIT — RoboCop has finally found a permanent home in Detroit.
The 11-foot-tall (3.3-meter) statue, weighing 3,500 pounds (1,587 kilograms), has been drawing fans since it began guarding the Motor City on Wednesday afternoon after about 15 years. in the process of creation. Even in the dark in a snowstorm, people would drive by to see it, said Jim Toscano, co-owner of the film production company FREE AGE, where the bronze statue now stands near the sidewalk.
RoboCop was released in 1987, depicting a near-future Detroit plagued by crime and poorly protected by a besieged and armed police force until actor Peter Weller appeared as a nearly invincible cyborg created by a nefarious corporation seeking to privatize policing.
There was a time when Detroit rejected anything that pointed to its past reputation as an unsafe city, and the film, which became a cult classic, spawned two sequels and a reboot, did nothing to improve its image.
But everything has changed. Violent crime has been declining for many years. Homicides have fallen below mid-1960s levels.. According to Toscano, city officials did not object to the statue's installation.
“I think there will be a lot more recognition,” Toscano said. “Detroit has come a long way. You bring in a little nostalgia and it helps.”
The statue campaign appears to have started around 2010, when Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was tagged in a tweet tagging a statue of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa and saying RoboCop would be a “GREAT ambassador for Detroit.”
Bing responded on Twitter, saying there were no such plans. But some Detroiters embraced the idea, funding it through a 2012 Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $67,000 from more than 2,700 backers around the world, and Detroit sculptor Giorgio Gikas completed the statue in 2017.
It was then stuck and stored away from prying eyes.
Michigan Science Center in Detroit ultimately canceled plans to place the sculpture in 2021.citing pressure brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and the need to focus museum resources. Officials in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, have raised their hands in hopes of honoring Weller, a native of that city, by erecting a monument outside the police station or in a park.
The search for a suitable home for RoboCop remained in limbo until about three years ago, when Toscano's company bought a building in Eastern Market, an open-air food market, shopping and entertainment district northeast of downtown. Toscano says he thought they were “kidding” when he was contacted by the person behind the statue and representatives from Eastern Market. But he and his business partner happily agreed: “It’s too different, too unique, too cool not to do it,” Toscano said.
Toscano, 48, says he's only seen the first RoboCop movie.
“It wasn’t that big of a movie in our house,” he admitted. But if there's one iconic line uttered by RoboCop that fits this moment, Toscano said it would be: “Thank you for your cooperation.”
On Thursday, James Campbell walked up to the statue and told three photographers: “This belongs to me. Do you guys know that?”
Campbell said he donated $100 to the original Kickstarter campaign more than a decade ago, making him a “0.038 percent owner of this statue.”
“I’m here to see this big, beautiful bronze piece of art,” he said. “What a piece of cinematic history the city of Detroit represents.”
When asked why RoboCop is a fitting symbol for the city, Campbell replied: “He's a cyborg crime fighter! In the movie, in futuristic Detroit, he's here to save the city. He's a symbol of hope.”
