In 1955, the City of Austin erected a traditional marble statue of Texas founding father and city namesake Stephen F. Austin.

The statue stood for 40 years in South Austin Island, a 0.06-acre park off of South Congress Avenue and Live Oak Street, until vandals destroyed it with sledgehammers in 1995.

This fall, the South Austin Civic Club plans to formally begin a fundraiser to replace the statue with a more actively posed bronze version.

The project is estimated to cost around $80,000. The club is selling replicas of the statue at $5,000 each to raise funds.

Austin would be depicted surveying his land, club member Nan Clayton said.

A model on display at the club's annual gala in January depicted him pointing and holding a map and looking glass.

She added that the new statue would be more dynamic and family-friendly in an an action pose.

An artist has been commissioned and is getting ready to produce a life-sized statue, Clayton said.

Early plans showed Hall's Studio Foundry in Driftwood as creator of the maquette and Deep in the Heart Foundry in Bastrop as the maker of the statue.

The club is also working on selecting a new site for the statue, club President Chong Shin said.

Shin said the club has met with the City of Austin about placing the new statue in a park as well.

Clayton said she hoped the new statue would be closer to downtown and more prominently displayed for safety reasons and so that more people could enjoy it.

The club has formed a committee and partnered with the Austin Parks Foundation.