Sparty stood naked on campus while Curt LaCross took a break from restoring the campus landmark Friday.
“If rival schools came and vandalized him right now, he’d be real hard to clean,” said LaCross, an MSU alumnus and ceramics instructor as he pointed out various cracks he was going to fill.
“These aren’t surface cracks. Basically, Sparty’s falling apart. What we’re doing today is a short-term fix.”
“The Spartan,” believed to be the world’s largest free-standing ceramic statue, was made in the 1940s. LaCross said after all these years it is time to give him a rest by recasting a bronze statue.
University leaders are planning to erect a bronze statue of former MSU President John Hannah in front of the Administration Building sometime next year, but no plans to make a bronze Sparty have been announced.
Hannah served as university president from 1941 until 1969. The statue’s price tag is an estimated $250,000.
LaCross said replacing Sparty should come before honoring the former university leader.
“The molds are somewhere on campus,” he said, adding that bronze isn’t damaged as much by weather or paint. “The powers that be know the condition of this.”
LaCross said university officials originally wanted to make a bronze Sparty, but there was a shortage of metals at the time.
“They made it out of terra cotta, which was really stupid,” he said.
MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said the university is committed to maintaining Sparty in both the short-and long-term, but wouldn’t say if that included making a bronze Sparty.
Denbow said the Hannah statue shouldn’t be an issue.
“We’re committed to doing whatever it takes,” he said. “So it’s not a choice at all. We want both and need both.”
LaCross first worked on the statue in 1999 and has worked on it each summer since. He also teaches ceramics classes at MSU and Central Michigan University. LaCross said he originally thought the statue was bronze.
“I did my Master’s work here, and they called me to do the toes,” he said. “Somehow I’ve become the expert by accident, I think.
“I didn’t know until they said ‘Hey, we’ve got some toes broken.”
LaCross said he wasn’t sure how much it would cost to replace Sparty.
“It’s going to be a substantial cost because it’s a big statue,” he said, “but I think it’s an important part of MSU.
“Epoxy can only do so much. With nothing solid to glue it to, it’ll continue to crumble. I think if alumni knew the condition he’s in, they’d be mortified.”
Some students agree saying Sparty should be a priority.
“I think they should probably fix Sparty before they put in another statue,” political science and pre-law junior Jocelyn Fritz said.
Electrical engineering junior Emeka Okoro said he’s not opposed to honoring Hannah, but Sparty’s history needs to be preserved.
“I think the mascot that represents the university is more important than a tribute to one person,” he said.
