Funding problems for ' The American' statue

The future of "The American" statue is uncertain, due to funding shortfalls. The statue would be the country's tallest free standing bronze statue. <br/><br/>With a $26-million price tag, developers

Friday, October 8th 2004, 5:50 am

By: News On 6

The future of "The American" statue is uncertain, due to funding shortfalls. The statue would be the country's tallest free standing bronze statue.

With a $26-million price tag, developers are having trouble raising the money. The statue is the vision of an artist named Shan Gray, who lives in Edmond. A smaller scale of his statue was rejected for the top of the state capitol, but then suggested as a separate project on a massive scale.

Gray wanted to have commitments in place by September 30th but it didn't happen. One of the principals connected to the project says so far no Tulsa investors have come forward to help.

Over the next two weeks prominent families and institutions will be asked to invest in the project. No one's talking about how much money still needs to be raised.