[citation needed] After approval and years of planning, the statue was cast in China by Zhang Cong, who used traditional local methods.

Due to exceeding its budget, the Chinese manufacturers inserted a weak metal to support the statue.

According to DiPasquale, replacing the interior and reorganizing the individual pieces together required a month and a half of welding.

[3] The statue was dedicated to the City of Virginia Beach on September 30, 2005, during the Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend.

[1] In 2015, the 7 foot maquette that served as a model for the sculpture was donated for display at the Cape Charles boardwalk.