The lack of proper equipment and manpower delayed removal of a Robert E. Lee statue Friday according to the contractor hired by the City of Dallas for the job.
Michael Van Enter, the chief conservator with Van Enter studio, said he had a crane and crew for the job on Wednesday when the Dallas City Council voted to immediately remove the statue from Lee Park.
A temporary restraining order from a lawsuit filed Wednesday stopped that work. A federal judge dropped that order Thursday, ruling against the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the group that filed the lawsuit.
But Van Enter said large cranes and skilled workers are very busy with hurricane damage along the Texas coast and he was unable to get the statue removal underway again Friday.
“It really is dependent on the very large piece of equipment to work with at a safety standard and to have the right crew that I had before,” he said.
The contractor said the removal is complicated because no original plans exist for how the statue was installed.
“We did some tests and found we have too much downward pressure to remove the end stones and loosen the armature,” Van Enter said.
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The large crane is needed to support the heavy bronze statue as workers dismantle the stone base. The 14-foot statue will then be carried by truck to Hensley Field in Dallas where it will be stored until a Mayor’s Task Force submits recommendations on where this and other Confederate items should be displayed in the future.
Dallas City Council Members said Wednesday they no longer want the Confederate monument in the public park. Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said the statue removal will cost $450,000.
“Dallas is insuring that this is moved by a conservator safely and will be preserved for repurposing,” Van Enter said.
The contractor had no announcement Friday about when the statue removal might continue.
