Confederate Statue to Move If Conditions Are Met

ROCKVILLE, MD — Officials voted last week to move the controversial Confederate soldier monument outside the Red Brick Courthouse in Rockville, but there are conditions tied to the vote.

Montgomery Community Media reports the statue’s relocation was approved by the Rockville Historic District Commission Dec. 17. Members voted 3-1 to allow the monument to move next to the library at Beall Dawson Historic Park.

Commission chairman Rob Achtmeyer voted against the location, the media outlet reports.

Confederate memorials have been the target of scorn after a man gunned down nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C. church last month. Dylan Roof posed with a Confederate battle flag in online photos and spoke of his desire for a new race war.

In July, the monument in Rockville was vandalized, with ”Black Lives Matter” and other graffiti spray painted on the base.

SEE ALSO:

• Letter to Editor: Confederate Statue Unfit to Stand on Public Land
• Confederate Monument Vandalized in Rockville
• Removal of Confederate Memorials Weighed 150 Years After Civil War

City Spokesperson Mary Lou Berg said the conditions for the move, are:

• The mayor and council must approve the use of the Beall Dawson Historic Park
• The monument must face west
• The commission must review of landscaping, illumination and interpretive signage and consider any security issues for the neighborhood
• The interpretation must be a necessary part of the applicant’s return to the commission.

Berg said the monument is scheduled to come before the Rockville mayor and council on Feb. 8.

»File photo of Confederate Soldier statue in Rockville