MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A millionaire's plan to erect a 311-foot, 500-ton bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus near the Port of Miami has some leaders pondering the political implications.
'I don't think people realize how serious this project is,' said Fisher Island millionaire Bennett LeBow. 'It really hasn't sunk in yet. The molds are done and it's already half done.'
Miami Beach leaders are somewhat taken back by the offering.
'This idea is monumental,' said Mayor Seymour Gelber. 'And not just because of the size of it. There are so many things to consider.'
Columbus has been criticized as a slave trader and destroyer of the culture of American Indians. Also, the monument would be 6 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.
'Politically speaking, we have to ask whether we want a monument that's going to outdo the Statue of Liberty,' said Public Works Director Dick Gatti. 'This has a tremendous potential for controversy.'
Zurab Tsereteli, the Russian sculptor who is building the statue, said plans to put it in New York Harbor were scuttled because of conflicts over Lady Liberty.
'The concern is that two such large monuments would take away from each other,' he said through a translator.
That's when LeBow, who controls a string of companies including Western Union, suggested South Pointe in Miami Beach.
'I've been doing some business in Russia and I know some of the people involved,' LeBow said. 'Miami is so close to where Columbus set foot, it's the perfect place.'
Before the statue can be erected, city, state and federal officials must sign off on scores of reviews from coastal construction permits to zoning variances, from submerged land leases to parking studies.
LeBow said he will set up a foundation to raise the $5 million it would take to build the underwater foundation and then maintain and secure the statue.
None of the obstacles sound insurmountable to Tsereteli, whose sculptures are in such places as the United Nations building in New York and former Soviet embassies.
This is his largest and most ambitious project, and is meant to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the $10 million in materials he paid for himself with help from the former Soviet government, he said. He'll be ready to start shipping the pieces in August.
