The removal process for the Robert E. Lee memorial's towering pedestal on Monument Avenue has begun. Obviously, Gov. Ralph Northam prefers not to leave this particular task to the incoming governor of Virginia. Work to build the scaffolding surrounding the pedestal is underway.
At this writing, I don't know what Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin thinks of this development. It's my understanding that the process is expected to be finished before the end of the year. If he's smart, Youngkin is already glad not to have to deal with this leftover lightning rod issue. Now he can tell the gullible Lost Cause diehards that while he never ever would have taken the glorious statue of General Lee down ... now it's time to move on.
WTVR reports the ownership of the grassy circle around the pedestal will be transferred from the Commonwealth of Virginia to the City of Richmond. For the time being it is still fenced in (as seen in my photos shot this morning).
What will ultimately be done with the bronze statue (removed two months ago) and the much-decorated-with-graffiti pedestal remains to be seen. Maybe this will be the last chapter of the long story about my neighborhood's haunting Confederate monuments. Unless, of course, that legendary lost time capsule is discovered.
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