Memphis City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution that authorizes the Memphis chapter of UNICO – the Italian-American fraternal organization – to move the statue of Christopher Columbus from a Downtown park to Marquette Park in East Memphis.

UNICO commissioned the Columbus statue, which was placed in 1987 in the new Columbus Park on the southwest corner of Adams Avenue and Second Street. The organization has pledged to pay all costs of moving the statue to Marquette Park, the site of the annual Memphis Italian Festival.

The resolution also states the city's intent to convert Columbus Park into a park honoring the Memphis attorneys whose work was integral to the local civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The city is working with the Ben F. Jones chapter of the National Bar Association on what form the honor would take.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com