City of St. Paul stops fighting statue of Jesus atop bluff

There's a marble statue of Jesus standing 17 feet tall on top of a Mississippi River bluff overlooking downtown St. Paul, and the owner says it's there to stay now that the city has stopped fighting it.

"I'm very happy," Tuan Pham said.

Pham told FOX 9 News he won his battle with the City of St. Paul after years of struggling over the 4-ton statue. The stony stalemate began with an anonymous complaint in 2011.

Pham bought his home in 2007 after emigrating from Vietnam with his wife and 10 children in 1980. He commissioned the statue as a replica of the 105-foot Christ of Vung Tao statue in his native country.

Initially, the city asked Pham to remove the statue because of its proximity to the edge of the bluff. They also denied his appeal because an ordinance required a 40-foot setback from the edge of the bluff.

Yet, comments made by one City Council member about religious statues on the bluff were what set the stage for a civil rights lawsuit. 

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