Court Orders Philly to Remove Plywood Box Covering Christopher Columbus Statue - Visible for First Time in 2 Years
A statue of Christopher Columbus is once again visible to the public in Philadelphia.
City municipal workers on Sunday night finally removed the plywood box that had been hiding the statue of the historical figure. But the city’s action came only because of a court order directing them to remove the barrier, according to WPVI-TV.
The statue of the famed Italian explorer was shamefully censored in one of Philadelphia’s public parks for more than two years — in the midst of a legal battle regarding the city’s plans to purge it from Marconi Plaza, according to BillyPenn.
A three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ultimately ruled last week that the wooden boards obscuring the statue were illegal, according to WPVI.
The neoclassical statue of the explorer in Marconi Plaza was finally liberated to the cheers of well-wishers Sunday evening.
The boards covering the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza are coming down.
A crowd of onlookers are here and cheering as the face is revealed. @6abc pic.twitter.com/ElUHkz1qyy— Sharifa Jackson 6abc (@SharifaJackson) December 12, 2022
As the explorer whose voyages paved the way for European settlement of North America, Columbus has long been considered one of the most consequential men ever to live.
It’s more than fair to assume that the lives of every American would be different — likely for the worse — if not for his role in colonizing the Americas.
The Italian-born voyager’s legacy has become an acute target of the revisionist left in the last decade, with statues and imagery commemorating him in public places targeted for protests, vandalism and removal.
Columbus’ legacy has long been a point of pride for Italian Americans and American Catholics broadly, who, as a personal point of pride, point to the explorer’s contribution to American civilization.
His detractors blame Columbus for the mistreatment of natives, introducing new diseases to indigenous populations and opening the door to slavery in the Western Hemisphere.
A group of Philadelphia residents took up arms to defend the statue in question in 2020 — as George Floyd rioters moved to attack and damage the statue of the historical figure.
The statue was presented to Philadelphia as a gift from the city’s Italian community.
The Marconi Plaza statue was finally displayed in all its majesty as the city crew completed its work.
Full Christopher Columbus statue along S. Broad Street is now revealed. Crews just finished removing the plywood box— the process took about 2 hours. @6abc pic.twitter.com/ifS3bnjKOq
— Sharifa Jackson 6abc (@SharifaJackson) December 12, 2022
The Genoan-born explorer carried out four groundbreaking transatlantic voyages to the New World, which began the European settling of the two continents.
The Philadelphia Mayor’s office is reviewing the court decision that led to the statue’s restoration, according to WPVI.
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