Confederate monument proposed to be relocated to Legacy Park

PERRY — A Confederate monument in front of Perry City Hall is being proposed for relocation. 

During last week’s council meeting, councilmembers unanimously approved moving forward with Legacy Park phase two, which includes the monument’s relocation. According to the work session minutes, Public Works Superintendent Ansley White said the monument will be relocated to a small courtyard with connecting pathways to the park. 

City Manager Robert Smith estimated that creating the new courtyard, relocating the monument, and making necessary street repairs will cost around $600,000. According to Smith, park improvements and the relocation will be funded by the Recreation and Parks SPLOST. 

Smith said Mayor Randall Walker and the council approved moving forward with the bidding process for the work, a month-long process. Bids return to the mayor and council for approval.

At this time, there is no exact time when the monument will be moved or the final cost of the project. 

He shared that relocation has always been planned for the next phases of Legacy Park. Smith said the park is intended to be a place of reverence. The city aims for the park to be a place where Perry natives can pay homage to those who served or died in various conflicts throughout history. 

“We thought it’d be most appropriate to consolidate all of those remembrances into one park and that’s Legacy Park. That would include the confederate monument moving down there as part of that,” he said, “Also, the city want to be able to utilize the space the monument currently sits on [in] downtown as a more engaging area for downtown and, of course, to allow for a larger footprint for our downtown events.”

Smith said this is an important project for the city, and they aim to build on Legacy Park in full, with a few phases remaining. Smith said they are trying to complete those phases as funding is made available.

Houston County NAACP President Jonathan Johnson said the organization has long fought for the relocation of the monument. 

He believes the monument should not be located in front of City Hall, since it represents how their government operates.  He said there are other monuments the city can replace it with that are more welcoming. 

“I have always felt [the monument] shouldn’t be the welcoming of the city. I felt that it seems like a city that should be welcoming every race, every denomination, everyone that lives in that city, and I think that statue does not represent that,” he said. 

Johnson also believes the monument is an issue because it represents a dark time in history, the Civil War. Johnson said there are Confederate monuments all over the state, and many have been relocated.

“I feel it should be removed and show they are willing to be open-minded and willing to work with all the people in the City of Perry and Houston County,” he said. 

Johnson considers this a historical moment not only for the city but for the entire community. He shared that many past NAACP presidents have voiced concerns about the monument and fought to have it relocated. Johnson is happy that it will happen during his term. 

“What they started, we kept pushing,” he said. 

According to previous HHJ coverage, back in 2020, there were two petitions circulating online. One petition called for removing the statue, while the other called for keeping it. The article says the petition to preserve the statue received 786 of 1,000 signatures, while the alternative petition received 2,083 of its requested 2,500. The removal petition was made anonymously. 

However, at the time, City Hall was the Houston County Courthouse; it was not city property. Now, it is a different story: the city owns the property and can proceed with the relocation. 

A similar case happened in Macon in 2022. According to an article in Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Confederate monuments were located on Cotton Avenue and Poplar Street. 

Back in 2020, people started voicing their concerns about the monuments. The Macon-Bibb County Commission approved moving the monuments in July 2020.

Then a lawsuit was filed against Bibb County to protest the relocation. In June 2022, the monuments were moved to Whittle Park outside Rose Hill Cemetery. 

According to the Perry Historical Museum website, fundraising for the monument began in 1896 under the direction of Major Joseph Palmer. Then, the United Daughters of the Confederacy broke ground in July 1907. 

The monument to a Confederate soldier was made of Italian marble on a granite base and cost approximately $2,000, the museum says. A dedication ceremony was held on May 21, 1908, where members of the Perry Rifles fired a salute during the event. 

Originally, the monument stood in the middle of Ball Street, but it was moved to its current location in 1928 to make way for the city’s first red light. 

“Today, the monument reminds us of the many Perryans of all wars who sacrificed their lives in service to their country,” the website says.  

Because the monument is part of Perry’s history, people have expressed concern about its possible relocation outside the downtown area. Smith provided comments on those concerns: 

“The city envisions Legacy Park being a place of reverence, and moving the Confederate monument to Legacy Park still provides a space for it to be a prominent feature as part of our city’s legacy,” he said.