WASHINGTON — Outside the Red Brick Courthouse, in Rockville, Maryland, a controversial presence is about to be relocated.
Montgomery County leaders say they’d prefer to move the statue of the Confederate soldier, dedicated in 1913 to the troops who passed through Rockville on their way to the Battle of Gettysburg. And they want residents to weigh in on five alternate locations for the statue, which was vandalized in July.
The discussion on how to address the relocation included the NAACP, Peerless Rockville, Montgomery History, the Menare Foundation and representatives of several local governments with an interest in the statue or potential sites for relocation, the county says in a news release.
County Executive Ike Leggett called for the statue’s removal from county property after the deaths of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooting stirred debate throughout the South over the role of Confederate symbols including its battle flag, statues and monuments, in 21st-century America.
“We share County Executive Isiah Leggett’s view that the statue does not belong in the center of government outside the courthouse and believe it should be relocated to a site where we are able to tell the full story of Montgomery County’s participation in the Civil War from all perspectives, including those of both Confederate and Union supporters, as well as free blacks and slaves,” County Council President George Leventhal said in the release.
A group of area representatives appointed by the County Council have chosen five possible sites for the statue. Four of the options are public parks; the fifth is a privately owned farm.
The options are:
- Beall-Dawson Historical Park, in Rockville
- Calithea Farm Special Park, in Potomac
- Darnestown Square Heritage Park, in Darnestown
- Jesup Blair Local Park, in Silver Spring
- The Edgehill Farm (privately owned) in Gaithersburg/Unity
Residents can send their choice to the council in an email to county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov or by mail to Council President, Montgomery County Council Re: Confederate Statue, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850 before Sept. 9.
Learn more about the locations here.
Leggett and the council will consider the comments before he discusses the issue at the Rockville Historic District Commission on Thursday, Sept. 17. Leggett has indicated he’ll request permission from the commission to move the statue.
Although the statue sits on county land, it also lies within the Courthouse Square Historic District, and any change to its location is subject to approval by the Rockville Historic District Commission.
