Orlando will repair and move to another location a controversial Confederate statue that's stood at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando for 100 years.

As supporters of the memorial marched with Confederate flags in front of City Hall during a city council meeting Monday, Mayor Buddy Dyer proposed moving it to Orlando’s Greenwood Cemetery.

According to the city, the Confederate statue was donated to Orlando by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1911. The statue was installed at Lake Eola in 1917.

“I’ve spent my entire life preserving history and heritage for my country,” said Patricia Schnurr, a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Since 2015, city leaders say they’ve received petitions for and against the statue.

“Some people like myself see them as historical markers that are dedicated to the fallen dead, while others perceive them as a symbol of white supremacy and a vestige of slavery," Dyer said.

"With this understanding and our city's commitment to inclusiveness, I’m proposing that we move the statue to a more appropriate location, which is Greenwood Cemetery. There’s a Confederate veterans section of the cemetery. It is totally appropriate to have a memorial to fallen veterans in that section.”

At the meeting Monday, Dyer made the executive decision to repair the statue and move it to Greenwood.

The question of what to do with Confederate statues has been faced by city officials in at least two other cities in recent weeks. In New Orleans, workers have removed two of four statues honoring Confederate-era figures. Last weekend, a scuffle broke out at a statue of a Confederate general in Charlottesville, Virginia, over its planned removal.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.


The 'Johnny Reb' Confederate memorial has stood at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando since 1917, city leaders say. (John W. Davis, staff)