Richmond Leader

City of Richmond issued the following announcement on Feb. 1

The city has contracted with Team Henry Enterprises to dismantle and transport to storage the pedestals that previously held monuments to the Confederacy. Pedestals associated with the monuments to Matthew F. Maury, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart and Confederate Soldiers and Sailors and the Confederate Cannon are included in the contract.

The code of the Commonwealth of Virginia gives local governing bodies the authority to determine the final disposition of publicly owned monuments or memorials for war veterans.

The A.P. Hill statue and pedestal are also included in this contract. Specifically, this includes the removal of the cast iron monument and removal of the stone pedestal and all associated materials. The City of Richmond will coordinate the chain of custody for the burial site and remains of A.P. Hill and the required permitting with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Work could last as long as two months, depending on the details of the A.P. Hill removal.

The contract was awarded to the firm that met all requirements while offering the lowest cost to the city: Team Henry Enterprises at $1,495,998.

For the pedestal materials to be stored correctly, they need to be placed on plastic pallets rather than wood ones. To accommodate this change, the city issued a change order and increased the size of the contract by $67,965.17, totaling $1,563,963.17.

The need for pallets and proper storage procedures were identified in the original Invitation for Bid, making this cost anticipated.

Additional costs associated with monument removal and storage include that of the reinternment of A.P. Hill, capital project consultants, storage materials, any legal services contracted by the City Attorney’s office, and a cost share with the Commonwealth for the Lee statue and base transfer. The costs will be covered by operating expenses in the budget of the DCAO of Operations.

Team Henry Enterprises contracted with the city to remove the confederate statues on city land in July of 2020 and with the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of General Services to remove the Robert E. Lee statue and pedestal in 2021.

All dismantled pedestal materials will be appropriately documented and stored in a secure location. They will be given to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia along with the statues, according to the decision of Richmond City Council on Monday, January 24.

Pedestal removals will be accompanied by streetscaping and landscaping efforts by the city administration according to approved plans, which may require traffic detouring.

A non-technical summary of plans for each removal site

The medians housing the A.P. Hill monument and Jackson pedestal will be completely removed from their respective intersections. The area will be paved with asphalt.

At the medians housing the Davis, Maury, and Stuart pedestals, all stones associated with the monuments will be removed and grading will take place to direct runoff from the median and into the roadway stormwater system.

At the site of the Confederate Cannon, the pedestal will be removed and the disturbed area will be seeded with grass to match the surrounding area.

At the site of the former Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument, the steps, fence, and curb associated with the monument will be removed and replaced with granite cobblestone paving to match the surrounding area.

Street closures associated with these efforts will be communicated by the Department of Public Works.

Original source can be found here.