KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo City Commissioners have voted to remove the Fountain of the Pioneers from Bronson Park, knowing that no matter what they did they were going to make a lot of people unhappy.
They expected a crowd at last night’s City Commission, and so many appeared that it violated the city’s fire code and the Mayor had to ask for volunteers to watch a TV feed in a City Hall meeting room.
After listening to public comments that went past midnight, a majority of the Commissioners decided that times had changed, that Kalamazoo was entering a new era with programs aimed at racial healing and poverty reduction, that the statue had to go.
Commissioner Shannon Sykes says many think it represents oppression. But it was also clear that many in the community think otherwise and expressed their desire to keep it, not only as a work of art and historic landmark, but as a tool for teaching about the treatment the Native Americans received.
Mayor Bobby Hopewell would have preferred a lot more information before acting, and more time to look at alternatives but voted to remove it anyway.
He says he still wants answers from staff on where the Statue is going to wind up and what will take its place in Bronson Park.
Several speakers last night suggested that the statue belongs to the community and it’s the community that should decide the issue.
It is possible if enough signatures are collected to hold a referendum to reverse the commission decision.
