“Quicksand Jesus” statue being rebuilt in July

In 2010, the “Quicksand” . . . er, “Touchdown Jesus” statue in Ohio was struck by lightning and destroyed in the ensuing blaze, an event some viewed as the wrath of Thor.

Almost two years after a massive 62-foot replica of Jesus Christ was struck down by lightning in a rampant blaze, the Solid Rock Church statue in Southwest Ohio will finally be rebuilt by July.

Touchdown Jesus’ skeleton remained after the 2010 blaze. Photo E.W.Scripps Co.

The sculpture, which was known as the "Touchdown Jesus" statue because of the way Christ was depicted with his arms raised in the air, will now be called "Lux Mundi," which is Latin for "Light of the World." Tom Tsuchiya, the sculptor in charge of restoring the large statue, confirmed that crews will begin erecting the statue on July 16, and by July 20 the replica will be ready to be unveiled to the public.

Surprisingly enough, it won’t look anything like the one PETA offered.

The new sculpture will be similar to the original, but instead of being 62 feet in height, it will be 51 feet. Whether this is because the entire statue will be “shrunk”, or because it will appear that Jesus has sunk further into the quicksand, remains to be seen. The latter would surely be a clever social commentary!

The church will spend between $250K and $750K to rebuild the statue, quite a range of potential cost given the July 2012 completion date. This leaves me wondering two things:

• Could several hundred thousand dollars be better spent on something other than a statue of a man sinking in quicksand?
• How can the contractor be in the process of construction (foundations were replaced in September 2011) without having arrived at anything close to a final estimate?

My guess?

Someday, the new statue will become known as “Kickback Jesus”.