CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago Park District has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed over the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue.
While a judge still needs to sign off on the deal, plans are set to move the Columbus statue that was in Arrigo Park indoors while a different statue could return to where it was removed.
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Unrest in summer 2020 lead to the removal of three Christopher Columbus statues in Chicago.
The city removed a statue from the Near West Side’s Arrigo Park in July of 2020. The removal became the focus of a longstanding lawsuit due to a 1968 agreement between the Chicago Park District and the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans.
“We had the right to have a say if it was ever amended in any way, changed, if it was ever moved,” said Ron Onesti, President of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. “And, once it was moved, that’s when we made the lawsuit.”
The Joint Civic Committee of Italians Americans sued the city over the removal in 2021.
That lawsuit is ending nearly five years after former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had the controversial statues taken down and put in storage.
It’s disappointing to me if [Mayor Brandon Johnson] is considering putting these back up after advocacy he had when he was Cook County Commissioner for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Les Begay, Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition of Illinois President
Both sides have now reached an agreement for the city to loan its former Arrigo Park statue to the JCCIA. It will soon be housed in a building that’s being redeveloped into a Chicago museum for Italian immigrants on the corner of West Taylor Street and South Laflin Street in Little Italy.
Efforts are now being focused on the Columbus statue that was removed from Grant Park.
“With this present administration, and their willingness to discuss the fate of these statues,” Onesti said. “I’m confident about where that statue will land.”
That statue’s possible return to public display in Grant Park is facing criticism from some opposition groups, including the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition of Illinois.
The group’s president, Les Begay, took aim at Mayor Brandon Johnson, calling on the city leader to have dialogue with organizations against the statues.
“I don’t know how involved he is with this negotiation, but it’s disappointing to me if he is considering putting these back up after advocacy he had when he was Cook County Commissioner for Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Begay said.
ABC7 reached out to the mayor’s office for a response to those concerns but have yet to hear back.
The Chicago Park District says they plan to engage with the community to commission a statue replacement at Arrigo Park that will honor Italian-American heritage. Onesti said he wants it to be a statue honoring Mother Cabrini, a patron saint who helped Italian immigrants in the neighborhood.
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