RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that his administration will remove an enormous pedestal that until earlier this year held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond.
The announcement marks a reversal in course from September, when the statue was removed but the Democratic governor said the 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) pedestal, currently covered in graffiti, would stay.
His administration also announced plans to transfer ownership of the grassy island in the middle of a traffic circle where the statue was located to the city of Richmond. The move comes about a month before Northam leaves office and Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, who has expressed less enthusiasm about the statue’s removal, is sworn in.
“It was important to us that we do it now and before we leave office,” said Alena Yarmosky, Northam’s spokeswoman.
The deeding of the land, which was given to the commonwealth in the 19th century, was a request from the city so that the parcel could come under local control, Yarmosky said. State ownership has created logistical headaches with maintenance and security, she said.
Preliminary work on the pedestal removal was expected to begin Monday, with the project expected to be “substantially complete” by Dec. 31, according to a news release.
The Lee statue, a one-of-a-kind bronze equestrian piece installed in 1890, was perched in the middle of the traffic circle, part of a collection of other Confederate statuary along Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue. The statue, which had drawn criticism as a symbol of racial injustice, was hauled away in September to cheers from onlookers.
Northam ordered its removal in the summer of 2020 amid the nationwide protest movement that erupted after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.