Detroit celebrates RoboCop Day, cyborg cop set to throw out first pitch at Tigers game

UPDATED: After reading conflicting reports online regarding the status of this event, we reached out to the Detroit Police Department and confirmed that the statue unveiling festivities that were supposed to happen at 1301 Third St. have been cancelled. This includes the presentation of the actual statue, the presentations, and the photo opps. There’s no word on what the status of the statue is now, or whether the festivities will be rescheduled.

That said, “RoboCop” will still be throwing out the first pitch for tonight’s Tigers home game at Comerica Park.

ORIGINAL POST: Three years after an innocent tweet suggested that Detroit should erect a statue of RoboCop, the hero of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film about a police officer who’s transformed into a cyborg, that suggestion is becoming a reality on “RoboCop Day” in the Michigan city.

A 10-foot tall, bronze statue of the character will be unveiled today at the headquarters of the Detroit Police Department, and the event will kick off a full day of RoboCop-themed events, capped off with RoboCop throwing out the first pitch at a Detroit Tigers baseball game at Comerica Park. While the statue’s permanent home hasn’t been determined yet, the fact that the statue even exists at all is a triumph of sorts for, well… anyone who thinks a monument to RoboCop statue is a cool idea.

The statue also serves as a testament to the power of social media and crowd-funding site Kickstarter, as the idea for it originated in a 2011 tweet directed at former Mayor Dave Bing suggesting that Detroit follow Philadelphia’s lead with the city’s Rocky Balboa monument and erect a statue honoring its most prominent ambassador in Hollywood, RoboCop. Bing dismissed the idea, but the suggestion caught fire on Twitter and resulted in a Kickstarter campaign by non-profit arts group Imagination Station that raised more than $50,000 to create the statue.

And that statue makes it grand debut at noon today.

Here’s the full itinerary of events provided by local news outlet MLive, which also has some backstage photos of the statue ahead of its official unveiling:

• 12:00 PM: RoboCop and Detroit Police Department arrivals
• 12:10 PM: RoboCop presentation and statue announcement
• 12:30 PM-1:00 p.m: Fan photo opportunities with RoboCop
• 1:00 PM: RoboCop and Detroit Police Department departure to protect the City of Detroit
• 7:00 PM: RoboCop throws out the first pitch at Comerica Park

It’s worth noting that, despite today’s release of the recent RoboCop remake on DVD and Blu-ray, the statue is indeed based on the original 1987 film’s version of the character as portrayed by Peter Weller. As it should be.