Virginia county relocates Confederate statue from court square to battlefield
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Confederate soldier statue, cannons and cannonballs are being relocated to a battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley after they are removed on Saturday, officials said.
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously at a special virtual meeting Tuesday to give the items to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, a historic-preservation group, The Daily Progress of Charlottesville reported.
State law requires that the board offer the statue for placement in a museum, historical society, government or battlefield, but the board ultimately has “sole authority” to decide where the items go.
The foundation was one of 10 applicants to receive the statue and its accessories, which the board had voted unanimously in August to remove.
The county will livestream Saturday’s removal on its Facebook page in lieu of in-person observance because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The statue was erected in 1909 and paid for by the county, the city of Charlottesville and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It sits in front of the courthouse on Albemarle property that was never annexed by the city.