Lt. Gov pushing to have monument control transferred

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser gave an update on the status of the four New Orleans Confederate monuments today on Talk Louisiana, saying he’s working to get the city to transfer control of them. There’s one major roadblock though, and that’s P.G.T Beauregard, who isn’t controlled by the city…

“Beauregard does belong to City Park, and I think the Mayor is talking to City Park about how do they solve that issue. I think she wants to solve it all, make one decision, and move forward.”

The monuments were taken down in 2017, sparking an intense series of standoffs in front of the statues in multiple areas of the city.

Rumors circulated after the monument’s removal that private citizens were cutting deals to have the statues transferred to their property, but Nungesser says none of those efforts were ever completed. Despite the initial failures, the Lt. Governor says some private citizens are still making an attempt.

“There are a couple of plantation homes that would like to take them. Houmas House is one, and display them in a building there.”

Nungesser says right now the monuments are still being stored, and are not in the best condition at the moment, so he’s pushing to have them transferred to a historic preservation group comprised of historical experts and academics who understand the history of the old statues.

“We put a diverse team together to make those decisions. We are not going to please everyone, but we can do it in a manner to where we can put this issue behind us and move forward.”