It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a Superman plaza!
CLEVELAND − Superman may be coming home soon.
While filmmakers go through painstaking steps to create the city of Metropolis for filming of director James Gunn’s “Superman,” set to debut in 2025, a local nonprofit is hoping to create a more permanent fixture honoring the popular hero right in Cleveland.
The Siegel and Shuster Society has launched a fundraising drive for the construction of Siegel and Shuster Tribute Plaza at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland.
The goal of the plaza: Erect a monument that honors the character, its creators and what it has all meant nationally and internationally.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the character of Superman from a home in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood back in the 1930s, giving birth to an American pop culture icon.
The idea of a plaza was born from a chance meeting between former comic book and Plain Dealer feature writer Michael Sangiacomo and Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones Jr., who asked why Cleveland hadn’t honored its favorite fictional son.
Sangiacomo said he asked himself that question more than a few times during his three-decade newspaper career.
He said that since then, they’ve worked diligently with the nonprofit organization, whose board he sits on, to make it happen.
Thus, the launch of a drive to raise $2.5 million for a plaza that will sit outside the recently revamped convention center.
Gary Kaplan, president of the society and a cousin to Siegel, noted that it took the duo six years to get Superman published. It eventually found a home in Action Comics, debuting in the magazine’s first issue.
“They never gave up, and neither did we. And today we are finally almost there. No taxpayer money is being used for this project. We are seeking donations from ordinary people as president of our nonprofit,” Kaplan said. “I want everyone to know that this is an all-volunteer board. Nobody gets paid, not even a stipend. All the money donated will go to the Superman statute project. If we are lucky to raise a little extra money, that will go to future events and projects to celebrate Superman in Cleveland.”
David Deming depicts the ‘Man of Steel’
The stainless steel sculpture by local artist David Deming will consist of Superman in flight along with life-sized bronze depictions of his creators and Joanne Siegel, who served as inspiration for Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. The sculpture will also feature a phone booth with a suspicious pile of clothes inside.
Immortalizing legends in metal is nothing new for Deming. His works include the statue of legendary running back Jim Brown outside Cleveland Browns Stadium, the bust of late Browns owner Alfred Lerner outside the team’s headquarters in Berea, and legendary rock music critic Jane Scott at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
Still, this work will represent an international icon, one born of humble beginnings that morphed into its own industry through the decades.
“I don’t ever feel pressure. I always feel the privilege of doing a project. No matter what the project is, when somebody hires me, I just feel privileged that they came to me based on what they’ve seen that I’ve done before,” he said. “And the only pressure I put on myself is always wanting to be the best that I can be when I’m working.”