Houston Suburb To Get Giant Astronaut Statue

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston suburb near NASA's Johnson Space Center plans to erect a towering statue of an Apollo astronaut.

The Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1fMsoxF) reports the statue planned by the city of Webster will be 80 feet tall on top of a 50-foot pedestal that will house a space museum. The proposed site is at Interstate 45 and NASA Parkway.

Houston sculptor and painter David Adickes has been commissioned for the statue, which will depict a space-suited astronaut planting a U.S. flag on the surface of the moon.

City officials estimate the entire space-themed attraction will cost about $30 million, of which $5 million would go toward the statue. Adickes says he'll need a little over a year to sculpt the astronaut.

His work includes the 67-foot Sam Houston statue in Huntsville.

___

Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.