The Lexington council voted unanimously Tuesday to back Mayor Jim Gray’s plan to move two confederate statues off the old historic courthouse grounds. But where to move them looms as a large question.
Additional seats were positioned on the second floor of city hall well before the work session began. Marilyn Dishman favors removing the statues of John Hunt Morgan and John Breckinridge from their downtown site.
“If we’re going to celebrate people who wanted to enslave an entire group of people for the rest of their lives, I have some serious issues with that,” Dishman said.
The resolution, which was moved onto the Thursday docket, gives the mayor 30 days to determine the best spot to relocate the statues. Bill Swinford appeared before the council representing Robert Montague, the oldest living descendant of John Breckinridge.
“If it is the vote of this body to move the statue, we on behalf of the Breckinridge family, request that it be moved to the ground of the old state capitol in Frankfort,” Swinford said.
Mayor Gray had initially proposed moving the two statues to a site in Veterans Park. A final vote to petition the state military heritage commission for approval to move the statues could come Thursday evening.
