Officials with the Owensboro Museum of Science and History are hopeful their facility will be chosen as the new site for the Confederate statue — not including the base — saying it would work well as a historical tool for educational purposes.
Director Kathy Olson said the museum’s board of directors has already approved the idea.
First, though, Daviess County Fiscal Court must finalize their decision on what exactly will happen to the monument currently on the Courthouse lawn. County officials said they hope to make a final decision on the site by the end of February, though it would still be some time before it is actually relocated.
Previously, a five-member committee appointed by Fiscal Court recommended two sites (OMSH, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art) for the statue and another for the base (Battle of Panther Creek).
Olson said they’d be glad to take the statue.
“It would fit into our history gallery that’s under construction right now on the second floor,” she said. “It fits in here, and we’re in a position to [display it].”
However, Olson said the museum would not be able to house the heavy base — which was one reason the committee suggested relocating the base separately to the Battle at Panther Creek.
Furthermore, because the City of Owensboro owns the building where OMSH is located, Olson and her team would need government approval to place the statue on the second floor of the museum.
“The City expressed some concern about it going into a City-owned building, mostly because of the weight,” she said. “We want to honor their concern.”
Fiscal Court would also have to select the OMSH as the relocation site before anything happens, Olson said.
According to Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly, Fiscal Court began the process of vetting the two recommended sites last week.
OMFA officials did not respond to multiple attempts by Owensboro Times to discuss their position on housing the statue.
Mattingly said the plan is to relocate the statue to one of those museums by the end of the June.
Olson said if OMSH could get everything approved by the end of February, the statue could serve as a tangible piece of history that ties into the museum’s annual Voices of Elmwood program, as well as its local African-American history gallery.
“We could tell the comprehensive story of everything that surrounded the history of that time period, as well as the statue itself,” she said. “We have quite a bit of information already. Once things open up from COVID, we could get the family collection [regarding the statue’s Union soldier model and the sculptor’s connections to Owensboro] from the Smithsonian.”
Olson said the OMSH wanted to be “part of the solution” in providing the statue with a new purpose and place. She also said she wanted everyone to be in agreement about where it should go.
“We want to make a good home for it,” she said. “That history and backstory helps people understand what happened.”
