Detroit’s New RoboCop Statue Is Finally Here

After 15 years of fans begging, bureaucratic back-and-forth, and at least one overeager guy on Twitter, Detroit, Michigan, finally has its very own RoboCop statue. Yes, the Motor City now proudly features an 11-foot, 3,500-pound bronze tribute to everyone's favorite part-man, part-machine, all business law enforcer. And honestly? It's about time.

The AP reports that the statue now stands tall in Eastern Market, guarding 3434 Russell Street like, well, RoboCop. This piece of art looks like it could benchpress an F-150.

From Online Petition to Bronze Reality

According to the AVClub, the campaign and eventual online petition started after a Twitter user suggested to then-Mayor Dave Bing that the city should have a RoboCop statue, similar to the Rocky statue in Philadelphia. The mayor wasn't a fan.

So, in 2011, a campaign managed to crowdsource $67,000 and commissioned sculptor Giorgio Gikas to create a bronze likeness despite the Mayor saying he didn't support it. Gikas poured 5 years into the project, and when it was finally completed in 2017, it spent years in storage. It waited there, unseen, hoping that it might qualify for residency at the Michigan Science Center. It didn't.

Why Detroit Said No — But Still Said Yes

CBS Detroit via YouTube

Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the hometown of RoboCop actor Peter Weller, offered to adopt the statue, but Detroit declined. Enter FREE AGE, a Detroit film production company that bought a building in Eastern Market and was more than happy to host an 11-foot bronze statue immortalizing a human cyborg who brutally battled crime in a fictional-future Detroit.

Where to See RoboCop Now

Which leads us back to present-day reality, where you can now visit all 3,500 pounds of RoboCop nostalgia in Eastern Market. An experience like that — I’d buy it for a dollar.

LOOK UP! Detroit, Michigan's 10 Tallest Buildings

Which building takes the title of Tallest in Detroit and how many of the top 10 can be considered 'Skyscrapers' (over 150 meters or 492.1 feet tall)? Let's countdown, with the data provided by SkyScraperCenter.com, to Detroit's tallest building.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow

Making of the Michigan Central Railroad Tunnel Detroit, 1906-1920

Between 1906 and 1910, thousands of Michiganders went to work creating a faster, more affordable way to ship goods across the Detroit River to the City of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Using preconstructed sections of tunnel, floating them onto the river above a trench on the bottom of the river. Here are some photos of the construction courtesy of the Detroit Public Library's Burton Historical Collection.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow