It’s a towering roadside attraction that’s been standing along Route 66 in Wilmington for decades. Now, its future is in jeopardy.
In the small town of Wilmington, with a population of just over 5,000 people, the most popular person in the community is not a person.
It's a 30-foot fiberglass figure that stands along historic Route 66. His name: Gemini Giant.
“A lot of out-of-state people who drive this highway stop at it just to see it and have their picture taken with it,” Jerry Mass with Save the Giant told NBC Chicago.
Another resident said the figure helps bring a smile to the faces of those traveling through Wilmington.
“When you drive by it – you look at it – you laugh. It brings a smile to your face,” said Scott Durano with Save the Giant
The founder of the effort is hoping to save one of what was once a common feature in American small towns.
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“As a kid, we would come through Wilmington, and the first thing you would see was the Gemini Giant,” said Ryan Jandura, who started Save the Giant. “As far as we know, he is the only spaceman giant left.”
During the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of these statues went up in small towns all over the country. They were called muffler men.
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A few weeks ago, this community learned that their Gemini Giant is in jeopardy.
“I saw the Twitter post that it was going to go up for auction,” Jandura said
The statue sits outside of the shuttered Launching Pad restaurant, with everything, including the Gemini Giant, up for auction.
Jandura is leading the effort to save it.
“We have to try and raise the money to bid on it and buy it,” Jandura said. “He has to stay in Wilmington. He has to stay on Route 66.”
Jandura started this online fundraiser, a Facebook page and created t-shirts that say Save the Giant.
Wilmington VFW Post 5422 is also selling bricks and holding fundraisers.
“The community has come forward – the businesses have come forward,” Jandura said.
The goal is to not only win the auction, but to move the Gemini Giant from its current location to the VFW- a mile away and to get landmark status for it so something like this never happens again.
“A lot of people wonder why we just don’t buy another one – its not the same thing,” Jandura said. “This is the original one and it needs to stay in Wilmington.”
The highest bid right now for the giant is $50,000.
NBC Chicago reached out to the owner of the Gemini Giant, but did not hear back. The online auction closes on March 20.
“We got to win- we have to. It is has got to stay here,” Jandura said.
