A group that works to develop Blacksburg made more than $73,000 Friday by auctioning 10 Hokie bird statues, ending the main portion of a public sculpture project that ran nine months and is said to have exceeded expectations.

An 11th statue, "Hokie Copia," was not auctioned for lack of time at Friday's event, said project coordinator Janet Johnson. About 15 unsold statues will be sold at a spring event, she said.

Though many of the brightly painted statues are no longer on display downtown, some of them were bought by businesses or people who intend to keep them in public view.

About 35 statues were sold for $7,500 apiece before the auction. At the auction "Farmer Blacksburg," a statue painted by Price's Fork Elementary School student Naomi Benn, drew the highest bid. A group that plans to display the statue at Benn's school came up with $12,000, Akers said Blacksburg Partnership Executive Director Diane Akers.

-- Albert Raboteau