ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — "So this morning, we’re going out on the street," Jeremy Patterson explained Wednesday. He is in charge of moving St. Augustine’s last confederate memorial from the downtown plaza and along the city streets.
It's in two pieces, the base and the obelisk. However, the way it will get to its new home has changed. Patterson said a group of protesters assaulted him last week in St. Augustine.
Photos are bruises on his body appear to be bad.
"They beat my whole body. My knee, my leg, my stomach, my back," Patterson said. "I’ve never had physical violence against me in the history of our family business."
His family business is Progressive, which moves large and historic buildings. He has chosen not to press charges. He says children were also attacking him. Patterson said that violence is part of the reason the memorial will now be moved by barge.
"The barge is better because we can control the people around us," he said.
A city spokesperson said it will also mean traffic does not have to be interrupted between St. Augustine and the memorial's destination in western St. Johns County.
But first, the memorial had to get from the plaza to the bayfront Tuesday. The 50-ton memorial took a three-block trek which lasted for 90 minutes.
It drew a crowd. Different people had different thoughts about removing a confederate memorial.
This removal is the result of a city commission 3-2 vote to relocate the memorial to a park, the Trout Creek Fish Camp, 20 miles away.
Before it goes, Jill Pacetti came downtown to see it. She is a descendant of a confederate soldier whose name is on the memorial.
With the decision to remove it, she said the city is "essentially saying some veterans aren’t allowed to be in the plaza and that’s heartbreaking for the family."
Once on a barge Thursday, the memorial will be moved up the Intra-coastal Waterway into St. Johns River, and south to Trout Creek.