A state senator has introduced a bill calling for a replica to replace the Saturn 1B rocket that has stood for decades as a north Alabama landmark on Interstate 65 but that NASA says has deteriorated and needs to come down.

The bill by Sen. Tom Butler, a Republican who represents parts of Madison and Limestone counties, would require the Alabama State Council on the Arts to commission the design, construction, and installation of a replica of the rocket at the Ardmore Welcome Center.

NASA and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center said in January that the 168-foot tall rocket was in disrepair and would be taken down. NASA said repairs to the aging rocket, even if possible, would be cost-prohibitive, an estimated $7 million. NASA owns the rocket, which has been on loan to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center since 1979 for use at the state-owned welcome center.

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Butler’s bill does not allocate any funding to the replica but says the State Council on the Arts could accept public or private gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind services, for the project, as well as any funds appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose.

In addition to the requirement to replace the rocket with a replica, Butler’s bill would make changes to the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, the law passed in 2017 to protect Confederate monuments. The law prohibits removal, relocation, or renaming of any monument, architecturally significant building, memorial building, or memorial street in place for 40 years or more. It prohibits renaming schools named after historic figures that are 20 years old or older.

Butler’s bill would sharply increase the fine that cities, counties, and school boards face for violating the law, raising it from a single fine of $25,000 to a fine of $5,000 per day for every day that a monument is not restored. The attorney general could put a hold on the daily fines at the request of the local government while the monument is being restored.

The $25,000 fine has not stopped some cities, counties, and school boards from moving monuments or from changing the names of streets and schools. Birmingham, Mobile, and Madison County are among the local governments that have moved Confederate monuments since passage of the Memorial Preservation Act.

Some have raised the question of whether the restrictions on removing monuments in the Memorial Preservation Act apply to the rocket since it has been in place for more than 40 years.

Butler introduced the bill last week. It is on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee, which Butler chairs.

Two years ago, a bill to increase the fine under the Memorial Preservation Act drew heated discussion but did not pass.

Last year, the Legislature appropriated money to remove the Saturn 1B from the welcome center. A bill that passed as a supplement to the education budget for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2022, included $989,000 to the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission be used for one-time expenses for removing the rocket.