CLEVELAND, Ohio - Looks like Cleveland will be getting a Superman statue -- finally.

A larger-than-life statue of a flying Superman is on track to be erected near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the elevated walkway that will connect downtown Cleveland to the lakefront.

The statue will be about five miles from the Glenville neighborhood where Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in the early 1930s.

Richard Pace, of Cumberland Development who is co-developing 20 acres of city-owned land at North Coast Harbor with Trammell Crow Co. of Dallas, said the burnished steel statue of Superman is long overdue.

"For years people have asked why Cleveland does not have a statue to commemorate the creation of Superman and honor local creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster," said Pace, a founding member of the Siegel and Shuster Society. "Now we will."

Howard "Hutch" Stoller came up with the idea of a Superman statue and approached Siegel and Shuster society members about forming a Superman Monument Committee. He brought in sculptor David Deming who spent the last six years quietly working on the statue in his Lakewood studio ever since.

Deming said the statue will be atop a 30- to 35-foot pedestal base that will be "Superman blue" with small ribbons of red and yellow through it. The statue itself will measure 12 feet from the tip of Superman's boot to his outstretched hand.

"I want the pedestal to look crystalline and keep the Superman colors intact," said Deming, who was the former president of the Cleveland Institute of Art and a nationally renowned sculptor. "I would also like the pedestal to be illuminated from the interior."

He said the statue itself will be a burnished steel, as in "Man of Steel," and will be placed in the center of the walkway, which curves around as it descends. The statue will be a little higher than the walkway itself. It's a classic version of Superman that owes much to artist Joe Shuster's original vision of the character.

"People will be able to walk around the statue and see it from all angles," said Pace. "This will be iconic, representing a piece of Cleveland history and pop culture. Placing it between the science museum and the rock hall is perfect. Every kid is going to want to see it and everyone will want their picture taken in front of it."

Deming noted that when photographed from certain angles, Superman will appear to be flying over Cleveland.

The statue will be financed through private donations made to a new, non-profit, company called Superman Statue LLC, started by Pace and others. The cost of the statue is not determined, but is expected to be around a million dollars. Deming said the statue and pedestal will take about a year to create once the financing is in place. It will likely before two years before the statue is erected.

At the base of the statue will be three, life-sized statues of Siegel, Shuster and Joanne Siegel, the wife of Jerry Siegel who was an early model for Lois Lane. All three are looking up at Superman.

"We have not figured out where to place the smaller statues yet," said Deming. "We will figure that out once we work out the pedestal. It is very important to get the creators of Superman in it."

The movement to create a Superman statue has been quietly building for more than six years by Stoller, Siegel and Shuster founding members Pace and Irving Fine -- who is Jerry Siegel's cousin, and others including former Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Director Terry Stewart and Siegel and Shuster Society President Michael Olszewski.

Members of the group have spoken with Warner Brothers/DC Comics, the company that publishes Superman comics and produces the Superman films.

Pace and Fine said the Siegel and Shuster families support it wholeheartedly. They said Warner Brothers and DC Comics are aware and have not objected. Warner/DC could not be reached for comment on the story.

Jerry Siegel's daughter, Laura Siegel of Los Angeles, got a peek at the Superman statue prototype several years ago. She showed pictures to her mother shortly before her death.

"She was delighted and it brought tears to her eyes that her long-held wish of a statue in Cleveland honoring Superman and his creators was going to become a reality," Laura said of her mother. "She was deeply touched and honored that her likeness will be included.

"It commemorates both her contribution to the Superman mythos, as the girl whose likeness Joe drew as Lois Lane, and that Superman brought her to Jerry, whom she married, and to their lifelong friend Joe. It is fitting to see these four maverick Clevelanders together -- Jerry, Joe, Joanne and Superman!"

Cost is always a concern, but members of the statue committee said raising the money will not be a problem.

"If we have to, we'll raise the money by reaching out to Superman fans all over the world," Fine said. "Everyone wants to see this happen."

There may even be a way for local fans to be involved. Fine said the hope is to install paving bricks around the base of the statue and allow people to buy a brick and have their names engraved on it. The cost would be low, $50 or $100, but would allow people to have a piece of the work.

"I feel it's a victory for my cousin Jerry, Joe Shuster and my brother, Jerry, who introduced the two," said Fine. "It's a heartwarming feeling for the Siegel and Shuster families to see this coming together."

Pace said the Freddie Collier Jr., the director of the Cleveland Planning Commission, came up with the location during discussions about the pedestrian bridge that will go from the Cleveland Mall C near the new convention center to the area between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Great Lakes Science Center.

"There could not be a better place for it," Pace said. "I was blown away."

Mike Olszewski, president of the Siegel and Shuster Society and one of the six members of the group creating the statue, predicted it will be a huge attraction in the city.

"Cleveland will be linked to Superman in real life the same way that Metropolis is part of Superman's story in the comics," he said. "Every time a network broadcast comes from Cleveland, it will show that statue. It will be that iconic."

The bridge and the statue are expected to be discussed Wednesday at a meeting that will include "stakeholders" like Pace, along with county and city planning officials.

The plans will be finalized then placed before the design review committee, then given a public review before getting official approval from the city planning commission and eventually city council.

On Feb. 3, city council approved a cooperative agreement with Cuyahoga County to construct the $25 million elevated walkway and bicycle bridge from the convention center area to the lakefront, between the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The city will pay $10 million toward the project. The county has pledged $10 million and the state will pay $5 million.