City of New Orleans Outlines Future Plans for Statues and Former Statue Locations Post-Removal
WHERE THE MONUMENTS ARE GOING
The City has been in the process of determining a more appropriate place to display the statues post-removal, such as a museum or other site, where they can be placed in their proper historical context from a dark period of American history. The statues are in the process of being crated and are being stored in City-owned warehouses or secure facilities.
Now, as offers to take individual monuments have come in from both public and private institutions, the City has decided that a competitive RFP process will facilitate the open and transparent selection of where they ultimately go and how they can be presented as educational tools with historical context.
Only nonprofit and governmental entities will be eligible to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement to host the statues. The RFP process will be used for the Battle of Liberty Place statue, the Jefferson Davis statue, and the Robert E. Lee statue.
Proposals will be able to be submitted for statues individually or as a group. All proposals must state how they will place the statues in context, both in terms of why they were first erected and why the City chose to remove them in 2015.
The statues will not be able to be displayed outdoors on public property in Orleans Parish.
The RFP is expected to be released in the coming weeks, with proposals due this summer. A public selection committee made up of City officials will make a recommendation for entities to receive and display the statues, with approval by the City Council.
Due to the complexity of the legal issues surrounding the property on which the PGT Beauregard monument was situated, the City and the City Park Improvement Association will continue to have good-faith discussions regarding that property; the statue will be considered separately based on the result of those discussions.
WHAT IS GOING IN THEIR PLACE
The area that formerly housed the Jefferson Davis statue on Jefferson Davis Parkway will be replaced by an American flag. The area that formerly housed the Battle of Liberty Place monument will remain as is.
The City Park Improvement Association will also take a leading role in determining what replaces the Beauregard monument at the entrance to City Park, in partnership with the City and other civic groups. The remaining part of the base will be removed in due course.
As previously detailed, the
City plans to leave the column that houses the Robert E. Lee statue intact. The City will also be undertaking public infrastructure improvements to include a
water feature at the circle. The circle will be able to incorporate public art. The City has begun the process to design the public infrastructure improvements to be ready for the public art.
The goal is to complete the sites during the City’s tricentennial year in 2018.
http://www.nola.gov/mayor/press-rele...tatue-removal/
I only posted the parts of press release indicating future developments of these parcels.. i know we all have our personal opinions on this so Im just going to focus on the future development aspects of the statue locations. seems like a good plan that will not be controversial at all going forward.