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Titans Threaten Greatest Liberty

October 22, 2008

You may not realize that the Statue of Liberty is the tallest statue in North America: 151 feet from sandal-bottom to torch-tip. Other people, however, are keenly aware of that measurement. They intend to top it.

Last year David Adickes was in the news, with his dream of building a 280-foot-tall cowboy. This year Ted Arman made headlines with his plan to erect a 200-foot-tall Jesus. And there’s been talk for decades of building a monumental Christopher Columbus — we forget how many multiple-hundreds of feet high [was it 500?] — first in Florida and then in Columbus, Ohio. But nothing has yet come of these grand schemes. Lady Liberty is still looking down on everyone after 120 years.

Now two other challengers are waving their metaphorical torches. The Tulsa World reports the latest on “The American,” a 207-foot-tall Indian with an observation deck in its forehead outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, that’s been around as an idea since 2004. The site for the statue now may be moved further out of the city, so that a luxury hotel and other amenities can be built along with it. Also, the “recent national economic turmoil has put a hold on some potential investors,” according to the story — although we can’t imagine anyone foreclosing on a 22-story Indian.

The newest entrant in this can-you-top-this contest is the biggest of all, and directly channels the Lady in the Harbor. The 303-foot-tall “Statue of Responsibility” has begun fund-raising to impress prospective location cities on the West Coast, according to an article in the Provo Daily Herald. It will be a pair of immense, vertically clasped arms — an enlarged version of the “I’ll hoist you out of danger” pose at the Towing Wall of the Fallen. The statue is meant to “bookend” the Statue of Liberty thematically and geographically, and will be exactly the same height as Liberty plus her pedestal, which means that it will be more than twice the size of Liberty herself. Its observation deck will be at the top of the chopped-off upper arm.

Will any of these 21st century titans be built? The United States can’t really afford to fall asleep at the Gargantuan Statue Switch. Otherwise it’s only a matter of time before Canada blows past the US with a supersized version of something like this….

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