STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Mayor Mike Wiza loves bringing attention to Stevens Point, which he calls second to none. He’s happy to talk about his city’s park system, symphony, environmental initiatives, or even the world’s biggest trivia contest which is hosted by 90 FM at UW-Stevens Point.
His most recent passion has been an attempt to bring an eleven-foot-tall bronze statue of the iconic 80’s film character ‘RoboCop’ to town.
It seems like a strange fit for the central Wisconsin town of 26,000, but the prospect of a giant RoboCop statue watching over the city created a buzz.
"Whenever we manage to come up with something fun, it really kind of pulls the community together," said Wiza.
‘RoboCop’, an iconic movie released in 1987, and set in Detroit, features a half-man, half-machine police officer. Over a decade ago, a group from the Motor City crowdfunded a statue to rival the famous ‘Rocky’ statue in Philadelphia. By the time the statue neared completion, the original home designated for ‘Robocop’ was no longer available. Wiza read about the situation and saw an opportunity. ‘Robocop’ was played by actor Peter Weller, who was born in Stevens Point. The mayor tracked down the creators and offered a home for the statue in Wisconsin.
"The community rallied around it," said Wiza. "We’ve been in a pandemic for a year, there are political tensions everywhere, this was the one thing that everybody seemed to be able to get behind. They’re like yeah RoboCop, let’s get RoboCop!"
The enthusiasm was short-lived as Wiza received a response from one of the project’s leaders, Brandon Walley, which said they were close to finding a new location. His response read in part: "It’s an interesting offer, however our mandate has always been to have our little RoboStatue made and preside in Detroit proper."
Wiza told Walley to keep his city in mind if things fell through in Detroit. The news was disappointing, but a Wisconsin-style ‘RoboCop’ statue did go up in Stevens Point for a short time. A local artist made a temporary homage to Weller.
"When he saw that we didn’t get the statue, he built his own giant RoboCop snow sculpture," said Wiza. "But of course, that’s all gone now."
The idea of a permanent ‘RoboCop’ overseeing Stevens Point still remains a possibility. It would have been easier to just place an already-made statue, but Wiza won’t rule out the city building its own tribute to Weller.
That’s where Create Portage County may fit in.
Home to several 3-D printers, including one of the largest in the country, Create could be tapped to help out, which they’ve done in the past. During the early stages of the pandemic last year, Create ran their printers around the clock, and with help from local volunteers, they made over 6,000 protective visors.
The size of the statue project could be a challenge, but Create thinks it is doable.
"We would want to make him as large as possible in the computer model and then we would cut it into pieces capable of being printed on the printers behind me," said Barry Calnan of Create Portage County. "It’s as easy as gluing it together which artists have been doing for years with these printers."
Calnan says the plastic would need to be filled with something heavy.
"Chances are he’d walk off otherwise," said Calnan.
If the city moves ahead with the project, they’ll need to secure rights from the movie studio and raise money privately. A local Commodore 64 club approached Wiza with a retro fundraising idea.
"One of the members from ‘Point here contacted me and said, I’ve got like a half a dozen of these computers," said Wiza. "If we want to do a fundraiser, we could do a ‘RoboCop’ gaming marathon. We’ll set it up and I’ll bring the C-64 and we can play ‘RoboCop’ and we can raise money that way."
For now, Wiza is awaiting the final word from Walley regarding the statue being placed in Detroit before Stevens Point goes much further with the project.
"The offer’s still out there," said Wiza. "Close to a deal isn’t a done deal, and if things fall through, we’d love to have him."
On the other hand, if Stevens Point does end up building their own ‘RoboCop’ statue, Wiza will have one stipulation.
"The one in Detroit’s going to be eleven feet tall," said Wiza. "If we’re going to build one, we’re making it twelve. If we can’t be the first, we are definitely going to be the biggest."