Posted on 01/21/2010 5:09:32 AM PST by Daffynition
Seeking to inject a lofty idea into a new land development plan for Patriots Point, an Atlanta-based group today proposed a male counterpart of the Statue of Liberty to stand guard over Charleston Harbor.
Details were scant, but the head of the National Monument Foundation said the Charleston area, with its rich history, is the most appropriate place on the East Coast to "wed" Lady Liberty with an complementary statue in the South.
The over-arching theme would be patriotism and freedom, said Rodney M. Cook, founder and of the foundation.
A computer rendering showed a statue of Liberty-like proportions, complete with a sunburst crown. It would face the mouth of Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter.
Cook said an elevator could transport visitors to an observation area. The pedestal could house a high-tech museum that would celebrate South Carolina's pivotal role in the Revolutionary War and the state's effort to secede.
Ideally, Cook said, an island near Patriots Point could be built to house the monument.
"We're looking at a statue similar to the Statue of Liberty," he said.
Patriots Point Development Authority board members and staffers said today was the first time they had heard any details of the proposal. No action was taken.
"Wow," commented board member Harry Gregorie, who then asked the how much it would cost.
Cook said he did not have a firm number but estimated the statue would run anywhere from $100 million to $150 million, depending on the height. The bulk of the money would likely have to be raised from private sources.
Cook said the idea his to create an iconic attraction that would draw international recognition to Patriots Point. That, in turn, would make the property at Patriots Point more valuable.
The statue idea will be discussed in more detail next month at a series of workshops about how to develop the rest of the land at Patriots Point to create revenue to maintain the ships that make up aging naval maritime museum.
Cook's foundation led the effort to build the Millennium Gates monument in Atlanta and he initiated the campaign to save the 6,000-seat Fox Theatre and his foundation led the effort to build the Millennium Monument and the Prince of Wales's Olympic Games Monument in Atlanta. Cook also is a founding trustee of The Prince of Wales's Foundation for Architecture.
Suppose he’s holding a Koran.
Pray for America’s Freedom
It looks too much like the Colossus of Rhodes. I say leave the half nude male statue stuff to Rome and Greece.
The statue is yelling, “Adrian!”.
We already have our male Statue of Liberty, if only more people would pay attention to it!
Personally, I’d rather have a giant statue of Lee.
Actually, the pessimist in me thinks that, by the time the various victim pimps excert their control, Liberty Lad here is going to be such a perverted morph of special interest demands that most of us would rather a statue of Lard Lad from the Simpsons be placed there.
2,400 Bronze worker jobs saved or created.
Exactly.
I think the US population needs lessons in liberty, not some new marketing schtick.
I don’t think I have ever heard of the National Monument Foundation, but I suspect they recieve taxpayer funds through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (or Humanities, or whatever). Regardless, if the people who want this statue can’t pay for it themselves then they should go away and keep their hands out of our pockets.
The first statue was a gift from the French Freemasons.
Anything less than a light bearing gift as a compliment is an insult, and dubious at best.
If “he” is holding a koran at least “he” is not gay or transgendered! Or he’d be hlding his severed privates in the other hand
Look at the bright side
catman67,,, I was thinking along the same lines of a minute man ,,,,
Minute Man. My first thought, exactly
Agreed. The statue as proposed is obscene.
Post of the day!
I would like my natural rights and liberties back for starters ...can do without the symbols of freedom made by some do-gooders..
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