The future of Peoria’s Christopher Columbus statue is not fully known, but it may not be seen in the River City again. The park district voted to remove the statue in the fall of 2020 after national controversies were raised in that time over Columbus’ treatment of Native Americans. Peoria Park District Executive Director Emily Cahill says there’s a few options the district has for the statue.

She says that includes keeping the statue in storage, selling it, or placing the statue back in a public space. Cahill says the third option doesn’t seem possible because the feelings of the board has not changed much over the past few years. “Ultimately, our board made the decision and gave the direction to remove the Columbus statue from Bradley Park, and I don’t see necessarily that sentiment has changed,” Cahill said.