Last of Lee Monument Removed: City Council voted for pedestal's removal in 2020

Smith, Bill. The News-Press; Fort Myers, Fla. [Fort Myers, Fla]. 14 Jan 2022: A.3. 

A private contractor has removed the last element of the Robert E. Lee monument from its spot in a median strip on Monroe Street in downtown Fort Myers. The plinth on which a bronze bust of Lee had rested since 1966 was taken away less than a week before the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honoring the work and legacy of the civil rights leader.

The Fort Myers City Council had voted 5-2 in September 2020 to order that the pedestal be removed. City Attorney Grant Alley had offered an opinion to the city council that the city owns the land on which the Lee monument stood. Flint and Doyle, a moving company that specializes in relocating buildings, handled the job after being hired by the city.

"They reached an agreement on the cost and the city manager followed the directive of the city council," said Mayor Kevin Anderson.

Long a point of controversy and bitterness between some who see is as a sign of racism and others who believe it represents Southern traditions and values, the plinth was placed in storage this week. The bust is in the possession of the Major William M. Footman Camp, Florida Sons of Confederate Veterans.

A leader of the Footman Camp did not immediately return a request from The News-Press for comment. When the monument was unveiled in 1966, the ceremony included statements from leaders of the Daughters of the Confederacy, which raised funds for the monument, that it was being dedicated to Lee County and the city of Fort Myers.

County Attorney Richard Wesch gave the county commissioners an opinion a few years ago stating that "the bust is not owned or controlled by the Board (of County Commissioners). Alley, the city's lawyer, told the board that based on his research, "I believe the city owns that land" where the monument stood for nearly a quarter-century.

At the time, City Council member Teresa Watkins Brown said it was a time to "do the right thing" with respect to the Lee memorial. "I'm sure nobody will want a statue of one of my ancestors hanging from a tree in downtown Fort Myers," she said. "You don't want to see that because you wouldn't want to be reminded that there are things in our history that are hurtful."