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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Before first light on Wednesday, construction crews began the process of removing a Confederate statue in Springfield Park that has long been the subject of debate in Jacksonville.
Following a similar process undertaken in 2020 to remove a Confederate statue from what was then known as Hemming Park, crews staged overnight and before sunrise began the work of taking down the monument.
During Mayor Donna Deegan’s candidacy, she said she would support the removal of Confederate monuments.
City Councilman Jimmy Peluso was among a crowd that gathered outside the park before daylight Wednesday morning, many of them celebrating the monument’s removal.
“This was a campaign promise that I made, so I’m incredibly excited to see this,” Peluso said. “I love the amount of folks that are out here this morning. Today is a day for healing. This city needs this big step to be taking place. We don’t need racist iconography in our city anymore.”
Peluso said before Wednesday’s activity, he told the Mayor’s Office he planned to file legislation about getting the monument removed, but they asked him to hold off.
“I was not made aware (of the removal plans),” Peluso said. “I believe that the administration was kind of holding this close to the chest, but I was in constant conversations with them, asking, ‘Hey, when is this thing coming down?’”
In 2021, while Mayor Lenny Curry was still in office, the City Council said the price tag to remove the Women of the Southern Confederacy monument in Springfield Park would be around $1.29 million, and in June 2022, the City Council opted not to immediately remove the monument.
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The park, previously called Confederate Park, was renamed Springfield Park in 2020, not long after the Confederate statue was removed overnight from what was then Hemming Park outside City Hall. That park has since been renamed James Weldon Johnson Park.
The pedestal for the monument in James Weldon Johnson Park wasn’t removed until May of this year, and the monument was recently returned to the Hemming family, as the city promised when it was removed. It’s unclear what will be done with the Springfield Park monument after it is removed.
Local activist groups in favor of removing the monuments have been focused heavily on the Springfield Park monument since the one outside City Hall was removed. But supporters of keeping Confederate monuments have argued just as strongly to leave it where it is.
The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville filed a complaint with the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, demanding the removal of the Confederate monument in Springfield Park, and they vowed a letter-writing campaign against a proposal in the Florida State Legislature that would punish lawmakers who vote to take down these monuments.
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It’s unclear if the looming prospect of that legislation affected the timeline for the removal of the monument in Springfield Park.
As the monument was being removed early Wednesday morning, Northside Coalition President Kelly Frazier released this statement:
“We hope this is truly the end for that hateful monstrosity in Springfield Park that glorifies the Confederacy. When it is gone, there will be another ray of hope for a brand new day in Jacksonville.”
