Company Seeks To Build 10-Story, $31M Buddha In Lancaster

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LANCASTER (AP) — The mayor of Lancaster says a Chinese company wants to build a 10-story-tall statue of the Buddha in the Los Angeles County desert community.

FILE -- A cable car passes by the giant Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze Buddha at the Po Lin monastary ona Lantau Island, during the "soft opening" of Ngong Ping 360 skyrail in Hong Kong, Sept. 18, 2006. (TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images)

Mayor R. Rex Parris told the Antelope Valley Press that the company — which he won't name — is willing to spend $31 million to build the statue and a cultural center. He says the company contacted city officials about two months ago.

Parris says a Buddha would bring thousands of visitors a year to Lancaster, especially since it's on a route
to Las Vegas, which draws Asian tourists.

A 112-foot-tall Buddha completed in 1993 in Hong Kong has become one of that city's biggest tourist attractions.