The monument was vandalized late last week, which came on the heels of protests and violence in Charlottesville, Va. The vandalism also followed an Aug. 14 letter from Prairie Village resident Peter Gogol to the parks board, asking that the monument be removed.
The parks department received well over 100 phone calls and emails, both for and against removal, following publicity about the Aug. 14 letter. The parks board originally had intended to have a thoughtful community conversation about the monument. But after it was vandalized, and the Daughters of the Confederacy asked that it be removed from the site, the decision was obvious, McHenry said.
Now the parks department is determining its future location.
As far as McHenry knew, there are no other such confederate monuments on Kansas City public park land.
A contracting crew arrived early Friday to cut the monument with chainsaws into its original 17 pieces for transport. Rex Burns, the head of the crew, opposed relocating the monument even as he orchestrated its removal.
Other than a few honks from passing cars, the removal garnered little attention from the community. Other than journalists, two police officers and the working crews, no citizens had arrived by 8:30 a.m.
Margaux Renee, a student journalist from the nearby St. Teresa's Academy, spent a few minutes in the wide median documenting the removal.
She told The Star that she felt there were many symbols of segregation in Kansas City. She declined comment further on the monument's removal.
Burns and his crew had about three hours to cut the monument into sections for removal by a crane. The centerpiece weighs about 15,000 pounds, Burns said.
Pieces chipped off in the process will be glued back in place during reassembly.
The entire monument was removed before noon Friday, and McHenry said the remaining bricks will be removed and the site restored to fit in with the rest of the boulevard.
The parks board will take brief public comments on the issue at its meeting Aug. 29 but does not plan to discuss the monument at that time.