DALLAS (AP) — Dallas leaders have decided to sell a statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed from public view nearly two years ago.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday designated the 1935 sculpture by Alexander Phimister Proctor as surplus property to be sold to the highest bidder.
City leaders say the buyer must pay at least $450,000. That’s what it cost to move the bronze sculpture from a park in September 2017 and put it into storage.
The statue was appraised at $950,000. Dallas authorities say that much money could pay for the planned removal of a Confederate War Memorial.
Dallas was among cities nationwide that removed Confederate statues following a deadly white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Civil rights advocates say such statues are monuments to racism.