Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza. MWC file photo.
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — There’s a little-known fact about celebrities from Central Wisconsin that many may have just learned in the last few days.
Peter Weller, the man better known as RoboCop, grew up in Stevens Point.
And that fact has Mayor Mike Wiza, a movie and trivia buff in his own right, clamoring with officials in Detroit who are looking for a home for a statue to honor the movie icon.
“The dilemma that they had in Detroit was they went through this crowd-funding, raised the money, but then the place they were going to put it said ‘naw, we don’t want it,'” said Wiza. “So then I said ‘bring it over to Stevens Point because we do want it.’
“We will embrace it with open arms,” he added. “Everybody has really rallied around the RoboCop statue; it’s really brought the community together in the pride of being Peter Weller’s hometown.”
Wiza said the group is working on a deal to put the statue somewhere else in Detroit, but he’s not letting that dampen his enthusiasm about the potential of bringing it to Central Wisconsin. “Close to a deal is not a deal. So I let them know that, should this fall through, Stevens Point stands ready to welcome RoboCop.”
Wiza says even if the Motor City isn’t willing to give up the 11-foot, two-ton piece of art he’s already working with local officials to commission one that’s 12 feet tall, one foot taller than theirs, and made with recycled materials.
One option would include utilizing a 3D printer owned by Create Portage County to print the pieces for a statue, then assemble them. Another could involve melting together used plastic bags to create the material needed to make the parts. Wiza says the second option sounds most appealing given the city’s sustainability background. “It really comes down to a matter of raising the money and making the statue. There may be some copyright rules we have to look into. I haven’t gone that far into it because I’m still hoping for plan A.
“Our RoboCop, if we have to build our own, is going to be 12 feet. One way or another I think we are going to have something here,” he added.
As for where the statue would be placed, Wiza says they are looking at some possibilities in downtown or renaming a city part after Weller and placing it there. Others have talked about putting the statue in the center of the Division Street roundabout near the interstate, but that brings up safety issues if people are driving by it slowly or parking to take pictures with the icon.
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