Columbus statue taken down in Tower Grove Park in St. Louis – By Kim Bell & Valerie Schremp Hahn (St Louis Post-Dispatch) / June 16 2020
ST. LOUIS — A statue of Christopher Columbus, erected in Tower Grove Park 140 years ago, was taken down Tuesday at the direction of the park’s Board of Commissioners.
The statue was on Main Drive off South Grand Boulevard, at the east entrance to the park. It survived an attempt to remove it last September.
Work crews with a crane carefully removed the statue before 8 a.m. and loaded it onto a truck.
“By taking this action, Tower Grove Park reaffirms its commitment to being a place of welcome, and to caring for the people’s park in the best way possible,” the Tower Grove Park’s board said on its website Tuesday.
Police had told the board that officers wouldn’t be staffed to monitor the statue so the panel decided to take it down before vandals damaged or destroyed it, according to a source close to the board who asked not to be identified.
