Fundraising for Detroit RoboCop Statue As Urban Regeneration

A grassroots online campaign has already raised more than $50,000 to build a statue of the science fiction character RoboCop in Detroit. The effort's organizers call it an art project with the goal of urban regeneration.

1 minute read

February 18, 2011, 8:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg

The online campaign was started after a comment on Twitter about a statue of RoboCop spurred a response from Detroit Mayor Dave Bing denying any such plans were underway.

Organizers hope the project will lead to other civic projects.

"The surprisingly quick campaign to raise at least $50,000 to build a larger-than-life statue of RoboCop in Detroit shouldn't stop with the crime-fighting cyborg, the fund-raisers said Wednesday.

'If we raised this much money for RoboCop, imagine what others can do for the city,' Detroit artist and fund-raiser Jerry Paffendorf said. 'We could raise money for other art projects and for schools and neighborhoods.'"

FULL STORY: RoboCop statue campaign a lesson in saving Detroit

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 in The Detroit Free Press

Community / Economic Development Government / Politics Landscape Architecture Social / Demographics Technology Michigan Internet Detroit Urban Regeneration Statues RoboCop Fundraising View More

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