STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Construction workers tore down Penn State's iconic Joe Paterno statue on campus two years ago -- but this town might not be without one for much longer.

Two alumni already have received the OK from the borough to install a projected $300,000 life-sized bronze sculpture downtown, about two miles from the original site. And they're hoping the statue, which will feature Paterno sitting on a bench reading Virgil's "Aeneid," will be installed by fall of next year.

They have commissioned an artist, Zenos Frudakis, and will seek to raise $50,000 for "Joe's Bench" on the funding platform Kickstarter come July.

"We just felt that the university was not ready yet" to honor Paterno, said Kim Intorre, one of the organizers. "But the community is."

Intorre said the idea for the statue came shortly after Paterno's death in January 2012 and was not launched in relation to university officials' decision to remove the Paterno statue outside of Beaver Stadium. That 900-pound statue was taken down in July 2012 during the aftermath of the child-sex abuse scandal involving ex-Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

The NCAA stripped Paterno of 111 wins and levied unprecedented sanctions against the football team, including a four-year postseason ban. But the town here has not forgotten its longtime coach, who spent 61 years on the sideline. If anything, the move has highlighted the growing divide between fans and university officials, who have declined to disclose where the original statue currently resides.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10828351/joe-paterno-honored-new-statue-state-college-pennsylvania

Although it will be a key source of vandalism for some, for me and many other fans of his, this is a long time coming.

The original is in a closet in Beaver Stadium. That's pretty common knowledge by now.