Fans of the late Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno are planning to commission a new bronze statue of him, and place it across from the school.
Organizers say the statue will feature Paterno sitting on a bench reading. It's expected to cost about $300,000 and would hopefully be done in 2015 by Philadelphia sculptor Zenos Frudakis.
Frudakis is no stranger to sculpting Pennsylvania sports legends having already sculpted golfer Arnold Palmer, former Flyer Brian Propp and a series of Phillies legends seen outside Citizens Bank Park including statues of Richie Ashburn, Steve Carlton Robin Boerts and Mike Schmidt, according to his website.
Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers says the school isn't involved in the plan. But a restaurant owner in downtown State College says he's interested in having the statue in front of his establishment.
In 2012 the school removed a Paterno statue from the campus after an investigative report alleged the late coach and three other top Penn State administrators concealed sex abuse claims against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
