Houston prepares for the Final Four and 2017 Super Bowl

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The man behind the Hakeem Olajuwon mural outside of the Toyota Center, and the blacksmith statue at Minute Maid Park is taking on another massive endeavor.

Sculptor Eric Kaposta is now creating the countdown clock for the next Super Bowl in Houston. It will go up on NRG Park, the future home of Super Bowl 51.

"This is a project like no other, just the scale and the size I would think. We have done some big things, but this is a big thing," said Kaposta.

ABC 13 visited with Kaposta and got a sneak peek at the clock. Right now, one quarter of the football is almost complete. Kaposta, is still working on the football, but when it's done, it will weigh around 2500 pounds.

"Well we've got people from all over the world that will come in for this. This type of event is such a jewel for Texas and the city of Houston," said Kaposta.

Another big event coming to Houston, is the NCAA Final Four in April. It is 70 days away. Two-thousand people have already signed up to volunteer at Fan Fest and the Music Festival. But, 1500 people are still needed.

"You can't do this alone," said Doug Hall, who is the president of the NCAA Organizing Committee. "It takes a lot of volunteers to pull off an event like the Final Four."

You can also volunteer to welcome Final Four visitors at the airports. For more information on applying to volunteer, click here.