Sparty might be freed from his tent-like surroundings tonight after repairs to the ceramic campus landmark took longer than anticipated.

Work on "The Spartan" statue was supposed to be completed by Nov. 3, but complications with restoration efforts pushed the deadline back.

Curt LaCross, 38, an art teacher at Washington Woods Middle School in Holt, has been working 10-hour days for the past two weeks to repair the Sparty statue, located at the intersection of Kalamazoo Street and Red Cedar Road.

The statue was damaged after workers ripped off some of the protective coating while making a mold of it for the new bronze Sparty scheduled to replace the original next year, said Dennis Hansen, a site construction superintendent for Campus Park and Planning.

Hansen said workers didn't anticipate peeling problems with the graffiti protecting clear coating.

"All we expected to do when we got done was to clean up the sculpture and walk away," he said. "When we took off the form the coating started peeling and got out of control."

Sparty is planned to be moved to Spartan Stadium by next football season and replaced with a bronze substitute to be placed off the road in front of Demonstration Field.

Hansen said LaCross was the "only guy who knows the stuff" to repair Sparty because of his previous repairs and his experience with ceramics. LaCross graduated with a master's degree in ceramics from MSU.

"He came to rescue us from a difficult situation," Hansen said.

LaCross repaired minor problems with the statue in previous years.

"Eight of those toes are mine," he said while referring to the statue's digits that he replaced with epoxy after water damage.

LaCross said repairs have proved more demanding than he anticipated because of cracks and water damage to the statue.

"It's bigger than you could imagine," LaCross said while sanding and applying an epoxy coating to Sparty. He said the epoxy acts as a protective coating and gives the statue its bronze-like color.

"This is going to help a little bit, but my epoxy is only as good as what it's stuck to," LaCross said of the deteriorating statue.

Funding for the Sparty Project has already reached its goal, said Karen Wenk, director of development for Campus Park and Planning.

"We've had a fabulous response from alumni clubs and individuals from around the world," she said.

The cost of new construction and long-term care for the ceramic landmark was estimated at $500,000, but fund raising has already surpassed the goal by $75,000.

"We probably won't ever stop gifts to the Sparty Project because whatever money not used for the project will go into an endowment for long-term care," Wenk said.