CREWE, Va. -- Greg Eanes, the mayor of Crewe, Virginia, has withdrawn a request asking Richmond and the Virginia General Assembly to send monuments of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B Stuart to his town located about 60 miles southwest of Richmond.
“It is our understanding the City of Richmond wants these war memorials removed. If that is case, the Town of Crewe will accept these war memorials for public display, he wrote in a letter addressed to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Eanes, who wrote about the inability for law enforcement to protect the monuments, said he believed the monuments would help inject tourism dollars into the town’s economy.
“As I like to say, ‘Blue plus Gray equals Green.’ Relocating those monuments to Crewe will enhance our tourism traffic significantly,” he wrote. “It also allows for the preservation of historical public art and significant public architectural and cultural resources.”
He admitted the town did not have the funds to re-located the statues and asked the city and state to pay for the transfer.
On Thursday evening, Eanes changed his mind, stating that he received many calls both for and against and ultimately made the decision to withdraw his request.
Governor Northam said Thursday the Robert E. Lee statue will be removed as soon as possible from Richmond’s Monument Avenue.
Northam said the statue that sits on state property will be moved to storage while his administration works “with the community to determine its future."
Northam made the decision after days of angry protests in Richmond and across the country over the death of George Floyd.
Mayor Stoney said the city would address the removal of other Confederate monuments at its next City Council meeting.
