The saga of finding a new home for the HIStory Statue which used to sit in the carpark of Best’s McDonald restaurant continues!
Last month, Johan Vlemmix, an eccentric Dutch entrepreneur and singer from Eindhoven, has voiced his interest to get the HIStory Statue to be placed in his old observatory purchased in 2022.
“Here on the square in front of the observatory is the best place for the biggest star there has been,” says Vlemmix, who says he is also a mega-fan of Jackson.
“But now I understand that the owner of the statue thinks that I only want it because I need attention. Well, it’s true, I often like to get attention. But that’s not the point at all. For me, it’s purely about the image. Now, unfortunately, it remains laid out in a shed.”
Van Gelder did not take Vlemmix’s offer seriously. “In that warehouse is always better than in an undignified place,” he says. “Someone is coming, but it’s just quite difficult. It’s not a garden gnome, is it? It’s a structure. A permit must be applied for before placing. The city council has to agree to it.”
Peter van Gelder will not give his Michael Jackson Statue to Johan Vlemmix. “At the observatory in Hoeven? That’s not a worthy place.”
It might take years before the fans in Netherlands could see the statue in a public place, or it might need to go to another country.
