Lexington Mayor Jim Gray is asking the board at a local cemetery to consider placement of two Confederate statues on its historic burial grounds.
A letter dated August 24making such a request went to the General Manager of Lexington Cemetery Mark Durbin.
Council voted unanimously earlier this month to relocate the statues of Civil War figures John Hunt Morgan and John Breckinridge.
Council Member Fred Brown believes the Lexington Cemetery is an appropriate spot.
“I think that would probably go over better with the state, because we’ve still got to get through that process, the council or committee that rules on that,” noted Brown.
The issue is now before the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission for consideration.
Council Member Amanda Mays Bledsoe also agrees the cemetery would be the best choice for the monuments.
“We can move them within Fayette County. It would be close in the jurisdictional area from where they are right now. So, I think it makes a lot of sense. We can secure them more easily,” said Mays Bledsoe. “That way in the evening, we won’t have people going up to them at night and destroy them. Potential vandalism is a lot less.”
Cemetery Manager Mark Durbin says the nine-member cemetery board will consider Gray’s request at it’s September 11 meeting and is expected to make a decision then.
Morgan and Breckinridge are both buried in Lexington Cemetery. Durbin says there is a Confederate soldier monument on the grounds, bearing some of the names of people lost in the Civil War.
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