As 2021 comes to a close, the statue of Christopher Columbus remains standing in Marconi Plaza. And as it has for the past year and a half, it remains entirely enclosed in a wooden box. The legal battle over whether the City of Philadelphia is allowed to relocate the statue could take another year or two to reach a conclusion, said the lawyer arguing to keep it in place.

While Commonwealth Court deliberates the fate of the marble monument, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will decide what happens to the plywood container around it. Neither side appears ready to concede ground. “The city still intends to move forward with its plan for the relocation of the Christopher Columbus statue,” Kevin Lessard, communications director for the Mayor’s Office, told Billy Penn mid-December.