Kansas City, Mo. ? Plans for a towering statue of Harry S. Truman in front of Kansas City’s Union Station have been put on hold because supporters didn’t seek necessary approval.

The Union Station Preservation Advisory Committee, which must consent to any major changes to Union Station, said it did not receive a formal proposal for the 26-foot sculpture of the 33rd president. They first learned about it last September on the front page of local newspapers.

The Native Sons Scouts had planned to unveil the statue on May 8, Truman’s birthday, but for now it has been put off.

Union Station Preservation Advisory Committee President Greg Allen and member Sally Schwenk said they were willing to consider the statue, although they were concerned it might alter the historic appearance of Union Station.

John Dillingham, a former Native Sons president who launched the statue project more than three years ago, said proponents were willing to consider other locations for the Truman statue, including the Liberty Memorial across the street from Union Station or nearby Penn Valley Park.

“Mr. Truman would get a big kick out of all this fussing around about him,” Dillingham said. “He’d say we’re a bunch of damned fools.”

The statue, designed by sculptor Bruce Wolfe, was to depict Truman raising his iconic Homburg hat in a wave.

It would have been placed on an existing 20-foot pedestal, vacant since 1914, in front of the restored railroad depot.