Grounds around a controversial Confederate memorial in Denton's city square were dug up Tuesday as crews hunt for water pipes that ran to the monument's fountains.
Tuesday morning, crews dug up a sidewalk to try to determine what kind of water pipes run to the fountains.
Last month, the county hired a company to use ground-penetrating radar to confirm those pipes existed and were connected to the fountains at the monument, which was erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1918.
The fountains have been the subject of debate, some question whether they ever worked and whether they were only available for white people.
Denton resident Willie Hudspeth, who is head of the Denton NAACP has been a longtime opponent of the statue. He eventually agreed to allowing it to stand, as long as Denton's segregated past is also detailed in an accompanying setup.
While the county has no plan to do so, Hudspeth told NBC 5 he hopes the fountains will be turned on again.
“That would be a good gesture,” he said in October. “Turn the water on, let everybody drink from it. That would be good."
