SHORT TAKES : Eatery Offers to Buy ‘Rocky’

bronze likeness of Sylvester Stallone, which once towered in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, could end up outside a hot dog eatery in the historic district if an offer today to buy the statue is accepted.

The saga of where to put the Rocky Balboa statue, which has become more contentious than some of the fictitious boxer’s battles in the ring, took another turn when the Ginger Group announced it wanted to buy the sculpture from the city for $10,000.

The food company said it would erect the statue in front of its Levis Hot Dog Restaurant in the city’s historic Society Hill section. The 8-foot-6-inch statue recently was moved from the Spectrum arena to the top of a flight of steps in front of the Art Museum to serve as a prop in Stallone’s upcoming movie, “Rocky V.”

Stallone has hired a lawyer to try to have the statue kept atop the art museum’s steps. Those who want the statue at the museum, where Stallone made his famous run up its 72 steps in the first Rocky epic, say it is a symbol of Philadelphia and the underdog. But museum officials and others who contend the statue is not art but merely a movie prop were successful in having the statue removed from the museum grounds on Monday. The statue is scheduled to be unveiled at the Spectrum, its previous home, Thursday.