Rocky statue to get a home at last

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PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A statue of Sylvester Stallone that was a prop in the third "Rocky" movie is finally getting a home near the Philadelphia Art Museum.

The Fairmount Park Commission and the museum have approved a site at the bottom of the steps where Rocky Balboa worked out, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Stallone donated the statue to the city in 1982 but said it has to be placed at the top of the steps. Museum officials balked, but compromised, agreeing that the statue would remain on the steps for a few months. Since then, it has moved to sports venues and then storage.

The sixth "Rocky" movie is due out this year. Stallone wrote and directed "Rocky Balboa," starring as a 50-plus Rocky making another comeback.

Stallone this time was happy to be near the museum, even at the foot of the steps, and Joan Schlotterbeck, the public property commissioner, called the plan "a compromise that works."

Parks Commissioner E. Harris Baum was less pleased, asking, "If a film about Donald Duck in Philadelphia comes out, do we put a Donald Duck statue in our park system?