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Philly Art Commission Votes to Remove Columbus Statue from Marconi Plaza
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This was probably inevitable.
The fate of the Christopher Columbus statue in South Philadelphia has been made. The Philadelphia Art Commission voted to place the statue in storage on Wednesday morning.
The commission voted 8 to 1 in favor of removing the statue from Marconi Plaza.
The Christopher Columbus statue will be placed in storage for six months until a decision is made on its long term relocation.
The art commission wants the city to make a proposal for what happens to the statue next, whether it returns to Marconi Plaza or gets relocated somewhere else in South Philadelphia.
The statue was a gift to Philadelphia so it will remain in the city.
It was seven weeks ago that protests and clashes took place in front of the statue, with some local residents heading to Marconi Plaza to “defend” the bust, or whatever you wanna call it. Demonstrators showed up, which resulted in yelling some some physical confrontations:
https://twitter.com/anna_orso/status/1275561387784314882?s=20
It’s similar to what happened with the Fishtown baseball bat guys in June. Group shows up to defend the police precinct, an opposition group eventually shows up, and then the situation gets out of control.
Anyway, the question now is what happens to the statue? Where would you put it? Art Museum? On top of Geno’s Steaks? ACME parking lot on Oregon Avenue? Maybe Lincoln Financial Field, next to Nick Foles and his massive cajones.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com