Rocky statue returns to Museum of Art steps

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LATEST: A larger-than-life statue of SYLVESTER STALLONE as movie boxer ROCKY BALBOA is to stand proudly near the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania.

The site featured in the first ROCKY film and has become a tourist attraction ever since as film fans clamber up the steps with the Rocky theme ringing in their ears and salute the heavens at the top of the flight.

Despite objections from snooty museum bosses, who insisted the statue wasn't artistic enough to stand before the building, the city's Art Commission approved a plan yesterday (06SEP06) to place the bronzed Rocky there.

The statue, donated to the city by Stallone in 1982, has been stored in a warehouse for years after it was removed from the museum steps - it's first home.

For a time it stood proudly in front of the Spectrum Sports Arena in South Philadelphia.

And city officials aren't wasting time in returning the statue to its first home - a dedication ceremony is planned for tomorrow (08SEP06). (KL/WNWCCNN/SH)