DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (WBBM Newsradio) – A proposal to honor professional wrestling legend Randy “Macho Man” Savage with a bronze statue in his hometown of Downers Grove has hit a roadblock.
The public art project is expected to be passed over during a village board meeting Tuesday.
Savage, whose real name was Randy Poffo, graduated from Downers Grove North High School in 1971 before rising to fame in professional wrestling.
A local group has been pushing for a statue in the village’s downtown area, near the train station. Organizers say they worked with the village for months through a newly created public art program, but village leaders are expected to move forward with a different project out of Milwaukee.
Still, supporters say they’re not ready to tap out.
“We won’t stop until we build a statue to honor Randy,” said Kevin Larke, founder of the Macho Monument movement. “We did a little bit more digging to understand how many great things he's done in his life, when the cameras weren't on, when he wasn't in the ring, and we thought it was incumbent upon us to start an effort to honor him.”
Larke said the group plans to continue working through the village’s process before looking elsewhere.
He says they’ve also received interest from private donors, business owners and landowners willing to support or host the statue.
“It’s garnered so much attention… quite frankly, it’s hard to ignore at this point,” Larke said.
