BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- When the sun comes up over Birmingham, the 'moon' comes up over a suburb where residents are fuming about a scantily clad statue of the Roman god of fire. They want him to put on some pants.
So a store came up with a plan for a kind of cover-up that would bring the statue of Vulcan, the Roman god, up to date -- a king-size pair of Levi's blue jeans.
The statue of Vulcan stands atop Red Mountain holding a torch toward downtown Birmingham. The iron monument is covered in front by an apron, but in the back, the apron stops short of covering the rump.
Some residents of the hillside suburb of Homewood have objected to the 56-foot tall landmark 'mooning' their homes. The debate was followed soon by reports that the statue -- obscene or not -- was in need of repairs.
That's when it dawned on Parisian store officials to outfit the statue. Not only would it calm the debate, but store officials figured it could be used to raise money for needed repairs.
Should the city approve the plan and if Levi Strauss Co. agrees to make the 20-foot inseam pants to cover the partially nude statue, Vulcan would ease into what would probably be the world's largest britches.
Greg Hodges, Parisian's marketing vice president, said Vulcan would only don the jeans for a week or two to help raise money for repairs as well as for the 1984 U.S. Olympics team.
Hodges said the store would donate 50 cents to U.S. Olympics team and 50 cents to the statue's repair for every pair of Levis sold that week.
If successful, the statue would again be attired during the summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
