Wednesday marked 50 years since the dedication of a statue in Denver's Civic Center to Christopher Columbus, though it may not stay that way for long. "We are right now working with Arts and Venues to look at the history of that statue," Mayor Michael Hancock said to reporters at a news conference amid calls from protest leaders to remove the statue, citing Columbus' history of devastating native populations.

"Not only must we create spaces where people feel accepted and respected, but we also find ways to provide that opportunity for people to understand the history of certain monuments and why they existed in the first place and why they ought to be removed or renamed," Hancock said. The statue was donated to the city by an Italian Immigrant named Alfred Adamo, who moved to Colorado from Italy In the early 1900s, before moving to Detroit.