Dallas' Confederate War Memorial Removal Gets Landmark Commission's Blessing

The Confederate War Memorial, located near Dallas’ City Hall, is one major step closer to coming down.The city’s Landmark Commission on Monday voted 10-5 to approve the removal, upholding the City Council’s view of the monument as “non-contributing to the historic overlay district” of Pioneer Park Cemetery — adjacent to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center — where the memorial has sat since 1961.The decision essentially gives the city a green light to bring the statue down, but that might not happen anytime soon; An interested person can appeal the case to the City Plan Commission within 30 days. And whoever loses that case — the city or the interested person — could file a lawsuit in district court.But the Landmark Commission was a significant hurdle. The City Council made its sentiment known last month, but preservationists have looked favorably upon the 123-year-old memorial in a landmark cemetery.After a morning briefing, the commission spent over 2 ½ hours deliberating the memorial’s removal, listening to pro-monument speakers and parsing over the city’s arguments that the memorial wasn’t covered by the historic designations provided to Pioneer Park Cemetery in 2002.  Continue reading...