After years of debate, the Confederate monument in Springfield Park was taken down on Wednesday.

Charles B. Garrison, the chair for the City of Jacksonville’s Planning Commission, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that Mayor Donna Deegan ordered the removal of the monument to “[honor] our present and [build] a future where every member of our community feels seen and respected.”

Crews started working on the monument at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

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Action News Jax reached out to both the City of Jacksonville and the Mayor’s Office for a statement on the matter.

The City of Jacksonville released the following statement:

“Mayor Donna Deegan announced that the Confederate statues are being removed from Springfield Park today. This memorial was erected during the peak of early 20th century Confederate monument-building, part of a widespread campaign to promote and justify Jim Crow laws in the South and intimidate African Americans.

“‘Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our veins. The same heart and soul,’ said Mayor Donna Deegan. ‘This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it. That when we know better, we do better by and for each other. My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice. Let’s keep lifting as we climb.’

“The large statue within the monument and the smaller statue on top are being removed with funding made available through a grant that the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and anonymous donors made to 904WARD. The plaque is also being removed and engravings of the pedestal will be covered with temporary plaques. The cost of this work is $187,000 in an agreement between 904WARD and ACON Construction. The Office of General Counsel reviewed the mayor’s executive authority and found that because of the separation of powers, City Council approval was unnecessary since city funds were not being utilized or requested for the work that was completed.

“‘Our legal analysis finds that Mayor Deegan has the authority as executive of the City – and because city funds are not being utilized – to control the property, the park, and the monument,” said General Counsel Michael Fackler. “We have worked closely with Procurement, Public Works, and Parks on the approved scope of work in accordance with municipal code in how we contract for and complete these services.’”

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The Jessie DuPont Fund also gave the following statement to Action News Jax:

“Great cities are anchored by inclusive public spaces that welcome all. The Jessie Ball duPont Fund helped fund the removal of the Springfield Park Confederate statue so that our public spaces might be more welcoming and inclusive for all Jaxsons. Removing – but not erasing – statues that commemorate the Confederacy from public lands is critical to creating communities where everyone feels they belong.

“We applaud Mayor Donna Deegan’s bold action and clarity of vision. We are grateful to nonprofit partners like 904ward who are leading equity work in our city.

“Funding this work continues our engagement on the issue of monuments and commemoration, which dates back more than five years, starting with hosting a series of community conversations about what to do with our Confederate monuments, and the longstanding offer from two years ago to pay for and facilitate additional public conversations in response to City Council interest. What we do next as a city now that the statue has been removed is just as important as the removal itself, and we look forward to continued conversations.”

Action News Jax told you in June 2020 when work crews removed a statue and plaque honoring Confederate soldiers in what was then known as Hemming Park, now called James Weldon Johnson Park, in downtown Jacksonville. That monument was also removed in the wee hours of the morning, under the direction of then-Mayor Lenny Curry.

After that monument’s removal, during a peaceful protest in Jacksonville at the steps of City Hall, Curry announced that all Confederate monuments citywide would be removed.

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