A charitable fund has been established at Blue Grass Community Foundation to support the removal and relocation costs of Confederate statues currently at Cheapside Park.
Local organization Take Back Cheapside and a group of community volunteers have established the "Lexington, Ky Statue Relocation Fund" at Blue Grass Community Foundation. This charitable fund allows individuals and companies to make tax-deductible donations to meet costs associated with removing and relocating statues of John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan from the central downtown park. With some citizens having expressed concern over cost as one reason to leave the statues where they are, the fund was created to meet some of the financial obligations associated with the removal of and relocation of the statues.
On Aug. 17, the Lexington Fayette Urban-County Government City Council voted unanimously to remove and relocate the two statues from Cheapside Park; however, the city council’s vote did not guarantee relocation would occur. In addition to securing a new location for both statues and receiving the blessing of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission (KMHC), the costs of moving and resituating the statues must be met as well.
While two Lexington-based businesses, Prometheus Foundry LLC and Duncan Machinery Movers, have offered to move the statues free of charge, the city still expects additional costs to arise. Shortly after the historic council vote, leaders of Take Back Cheapside — the Lexington-based, grassroots coalition that has been at the center of the efforts to remove and relocate the monuments — met with Debra Hensley and Lisa Adkins about establishing a charitable fund at Blue Grass Community Foundation to address meeting these additional costs. A fund was then created and a governing board put in place that includes Take Back Cheapside co-leaders, DeBraun Thomas and Russell Allen, city CAO Sally Hamilton and Hensley. The fund is expressly dedicated to paying for costs to remove and relocate the statues, and should any money be raised that is beyond what is needed, excess funds will be redirected toward reimagining Cheapside Park in a way that is more fitting to its history as one of the antebellum South’s largest slave auction sites. The funds will not go for upkeep, cleaning or security for the statues once they are in a new location.
“We’re grateful to have the wisdom, know-how and reputation of the Blue Grass Community Foundation on our side as we seek to do right by the memories of those bought and sold at Cheapside,” said Thomas, the founder of Take Back Cheapside. “With BGCF streamlining the financial side, we can focus our time and energy on getting approval from the KMHC to relocate the statues.”
“The establishment of this fund is more than just a way to pay for relocating the statues,” added Hensley, one of the early organizers of the fund and a board member. “It gives every single person in Lexington a chance to participate in more honestly remembering what has happened here, while also actively creating how our city understands itself in the future.”
Tax deductible donations can be made to the fund here.
This post was modified from a press release sent to Smiley Pete Publishing.