"The Spirit of Detroit" is a Detroit icon, synonymous with the city itself and the dedication of those who love the Motor City.

The bronze monument sits on a marble base and is parked in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in the heart of downtown Detroit. He overlooks Detroit's main drag of Woodward Avenue, and is a stone's throw from Hart Plaza. Metro Detroit sculptor Marshall Fredericks was commissioned in 1955 to create the piece. The 26-foot bronze monument was the largest cast statue made anywhere in the world since the Renaissance.

The sculpture was cast by the Norwegian foundry Kristiania Kunst & Metalstoberi in Oslo. Fredericks sent his plaster models to the foundry and would travel to Norway to oversee the progress. It would take about a year for the sculpture to be completed. The "Spirit" was shipped to the Port of Detroit aboard the German freighter Charles Schulte. It arrived at the port on Sept. 20, 1958, at 6:55 a.m. along with crates of sardines and herring and Mercedes Benz automobiles. At 11:20 a.m., the 60-ton "Spirit" was hoisted onto land next to the Detroit Harbor Terminal five minutes later. An elated Fredericks was on hand snapping photos, and Councilmember Eugene Van Antwerp was, too.

Though the "Spirit" cost $58,000 (about $467,750 today, when adjusted for inflation) to erect, Fredericks waived his fee on the project. "He considered the job as part of his civic responsibility, The Detroit News noted in 1998. It is unquestionably one of his greatest works - and certainly his most renowned.

The green giant was dedicated Sept. 23, 1958. But Fredericks did not name his work the “Spirit of Detroit." Instead, the informal name that stuck came from the people of Detroit themselves, likely inspired by the biblical verse behind the figure, 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

"I tried to express the spirit of man through the deity and the family," the artist told the Detroit News. "Gradually, people began calling it 'Spirit of Detroit.' "

The giant is often cloaked in oversize jerseys of the city's sports teams whenever they're in the playoffs.

In 2007, tens of thousands of dollars in improvements were made to the icon in time for its 50th birthday. The elements had eaten away the statue's green patina, and in the 1990s, a vandal damaged the statue's thigh with an ax.