JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The controversy involving the Confederate monument that used to reside in Jacksonville's Springfield Park is not over.
Demonstrators with Take Em' Down Jax said everything that came with the statue should go, specifically the white stone cover the statue was underneath.
"We want this temple to be removed and there's money that was set aside by (former) Mayor (Lenny) Curry to do that. We want the city council to follow through on that and remove what's left of the confederate monument," Todd Wells said, a member of Take Em' Down Jax.
Wells was talking about the $500,000 that was set aside to remove the statue. Mayor Donna Deegan's office told First Coast News the money was removed from the budget since its intended purpose was to remove the statue.
Instead, Deegan utilized private dollars and donations to remove the monument. Officials said no decisions have been made about plans for Springfield Park's future.
Take Em' Down Jax is also hosting an event at The Jessie on Friday with guest speaker Andrea Douglas. She's hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, where demonstrators there had a Robert E. Lee statue removed.
Wells said the purpose of Friday's event is to come up with a new image for Springfield Park and learn how other organizations changed with community.
Demonstrators said if something were to take the Confederate monument's place, it should be something that reflects all of Jacksonville.
"I think this whole park really needs to be renovated, but I think the removal of the statue has brought about some serious discussion in Jacksonville about what should be up there," Wells said.
Friday's event featuring Douglas at the Jessie starts at 6 p.m.