A District man is fighting to have a pair of Transformers statues stay put outside of his Georgetown home, according to 7News' partner WTOP News.
The "battle" took place at D.C.'s Public Space Committee last Thursday, where Dr. Newton Howard returned to the committee with a star-powered appeal after the board denied his push to keep the two Autobots on the sidewalk, WTOP News reported.
Residents rallied in support and also voiced opposition to the statues located along the 3600 block of Prospect Street NW. It was the Transformers and Star Wars franchises, however, that drew attention, WTOP News reported.
“We all are one, out,” Bumblebee voice actor Dan Gilvezan told the committee, according to WTOP News.
Bumblebee and Peter Cullen, the voice actor for Optimus Prime, testified in support of the statues, adding that many people, including children, enjoy them.
Howard, a Georgetown University professor, told WTOP that the statues were built from equipment used for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease treatments.
However, community members took issue with both Howard’s response time to the request to take down the statues and the decision to keep them up despite pressures from the committee.
Plans submitted to the council by Howard showed the statues were still in a public space and subject to removal.
“The applicant would have to submit a substantially different application for reconsideration,” Chairman Elliott Garrett said, according to committee records obtained by WTOP News.
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WTOP News contributed to this story.