SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
Savannah's Confederate Memorial task force released eight recommendations for the monument in Forsyth Park on Thursday (2/1).
The City of Savannah polled the public from Oct. 30 to Nov. 13 last year in order to gauge their feelings about the monument.
More than 60 percent (1,564) of respondents from Savannah suggested the monument not be changed.
Here are the eight recommendations released by the city:
- Rename the monument from "Confederate monument" to "Civil War Memorial."
Renaming it to “Civil War Memorial” serves two purposes. “Memorial” returns to the original intent of it being a memorial to the dead; and “Civil War” rather than “Confederate” makes it more inclusive to all of Savannah’s Civil War fallen.
Preserve all historical material on the memorial.
While the task force explored replacing the “Confederate soldier” statue at the top, it was decided the statue represented the “everyman” soldier rather than a specific individual. In keeping with Savannah’s long tradition of preservation, the task force does not recommend removing historical material.
Install a new bronze plaque on the blank horizontal panel on the south side of the memorial.
The former memorial was dedicated to the confederate dead in 1875. It will be rededicated to all the dead of the American Civil War in 2018.
Do not alter the blank vertical panel on the south side of the memorial.
Already making use of the blank horizontal panel, the task force encouraged leaving the vertical panel blank so future generations could add to the monument as they see fit.
Relocate the McLaws and Bartown monuments to Laurel Grove North Cemetery.
These monuments were added to the Forsyth Park site 35 years after the erection of the memorial and are distractions from the original memorial. A more appropriate location to preserve these monuments is the Laurel Grove North Cemetery where both are buried.
Once relocated, the task force recommends not replacing the Bartow and McLaws monuments at the memorial site.
Preserve the fence around the memorial in the current elliptical shape.
The community expands the story of the Civil War, its causes, and its effects throughout Savannah, other than at the Forsyth Park Confederate Memorial site.