Gemini Giant statue moved from its post of nearly 60 years in Wilmington, Illinois
WILMINGTON, Ill. (CBS) -- Dozens of people across Wilmington, Illinois bid farewell to the iconic Gemini Giant Wednesday, as it heads for a new home.
Crews were seen Wednesday afternoon lifting the giant off its pedestal outside the old Launching Pad Drive-In restaurant and Americana gift shop in Wilmington. The statue was put up there in 1965.
The restaurant has been shuttered since 2022.
After a bidding war, the Gemini Giant was purchased by the Joliet Area Historical Museum for $275,000.
"It's one of those things that we grew up with our whole lives. We never thought it would leave," one woman said. "So we kind of took it for granted. So now that it's leaving, we want like pictures with our kids here before it possibly leaves."
The Gemini Giant is not leaving Wilmington – just moving to a different place within the Will County community. It will soon rise again outside South Island Park.
Wilmington leaders said the giant will stand on the historic Route 66 – just like it has for decades.
The Gemini Giant wears a green space suit and a space helmet, and holds a silver "rocket ship" in his hands. The "Gemini Giant" name comes from Project Gemini – NASA's second human spaceflight program, which was in operation from 1961 until 1966.
The statue is one of many "Muffler Men" – giant fiberglass advertising characters for which Route 66 was known for many years.