The new bronze bison sculpture has become the campus mystery.

The bison sculpture was placed in the Academic Hall Atrium Jan. 9 for the start of the spring semester. Faculty and students were taken by surprise with the sudden appearance of the sculpture.

Until recently, the bison sculpture, weighing 300 pounds, was placed in University storage.

Point Park purchased the sculpture in May 2011, but officials have not released the price. Gregory Rogers, professor and director of the National Security and Intelligence program, provided a photo and contact information for the seller Rick Hvizsak to University President Paul Hennigan. From there, Hennigan followed up to purchase the sculpture from Hvizsak and had it delivered to the University.

Hvisak is listed on LinkedIn as the manager of Artifacts. In a 2006 Tribune-Review article, he was described as a multi-millionaire from Lawrence County who opened Artifacts, a 42,000-square-foot, two-story former warehouse on South Main Street in the West End, which will act as his main showroom for American, French, British, Italian and Flemish antiques.

The University had the additional expense of the cleaning the sculpture. It was black from sitting in storage and the tail of the bison needed repaired. A granite slab has been built for the sculpture to stand on. Chris Hill, vice president of operations, was in charge of sending it to be cleaned and repaired, which cost the University under $1,000.

No tuition money was involved in the purchasing or the cleaning processes of the sculpture. The funding for this sculpture is said to have come from a building budget, according to University officials. The sculpture now weighs 1,000 pounds with the addition of the granite slab.

Alumni Park is the future placement of the bison statue because it is durable to maintain all types of weather, and the sculpture will serve as a great tourist spot, according to Lou Corsaro, managing director of University Media and Public Relations.

“The plan for the renovation of Alumni Park has been approved, but it is on hold right now because the University is waiting to receive working permits for the Playhouse Project,” Corsaro said.

According to Corsaro, the bison was a “happy accident” because it’s something Point Park already had in storage for a while and could be used for this upcoming project.

Corsaro also said the renovation plans are in place for the park because the University is hoping that Alumni Park becomes a popular place for students and faculty to hold events and gatherings like the campus’ Village Park.

“There will also be a plaque added to sculpture, and security will be assigned to monitor the sculpture once it is placed in Alumni Park,” Corsaro said.

In the near future, Lou Corsaro said Social Media Manager Chelsey Rovesti could be involved to hold a naming contest for the bison sculpture.

“I think putting the bison in Alumni Park will add more pizazz to the University,” said Autumn Yancey- Estimé, a cinema major.

Dylan Baughman, 19, an acting major, also weighed in on the sculpture.

“Most big schools have a statue of their mascot,” Baughman said. “So it’s cool that we finally have something like this.”