THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190413
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS AND ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
The minute hand on the City Council chambers clock was inching toward 1 a.m. when Councilman Timothy Kaine leaned toward his microphone and began to speak Tuesday morning.
A dwindling crowd of bleary-eyed citizens quieted as Kaine outlined his inner turmoil over where the city should place a statue of native son Arthur Ashe Jr.
Through the six-hour public hearing that had just finished, he had gone back and forth - as he had in recent weeks - acknowledged Kaine, the son-in-law of former Gov. Linwood Holton, one of Virginia's most racially progressive governors.
A site on Monument Avenue, an internationally known boulevard recognizing Civil War heroes, was favored by the Ashe family. Also, the addition of an African-American statue would symbolize a new dawn in the capital of the Confederacy, Kaine said.
But a site in Byrd Park, where the budding tennis champion and humanitarian was denied access as a child, had practical advantages. There is less traffic. Children could be more involved with the statue. And, although Kaine did not say so, some important members of the city's African-American population, including the mayor, favored the site.
Pausing slightly, Kaine revealed his decision: ``The symbolic nature of this decision is more important than the practical.''
He would vote for Monument Avenue.
With that announcement, the die was cast. Any doubt that an alternate plan crafted by Mayor Leonidas Young had unraveled in the heat and light of the marathon public outpouring was gone. Within moments, even Young - who hours earlier had predicted that Byrd Park would prevail - had joined in a 7-0 vote for Monument Avenue.
The councilman representing the proposed site, several miles west of the Capitol and a few blocks beyond the last of the Confederate statues, abstained.
In the aftermath, individuals on both sides of the debate said that the unqualified preference of the Ashe family for Monument Avenue influenced the debate, as did the passion of an array of citizens - black and white, old and young - who argued that a street reserved for Civil War heroes had no place in modern Richmond.
While supporters of a Byrd Park site were equally diverse, their numbers also included a group of Confederate aficionados - probably a drawback with a City Council dominated by African Americans and moderate whites.
What the council learned in the course of listening to well over 100 speakers was that ``Richmond was ready for Monument Avenue and the objections weren't that great,'' said Tom Chewning, a local businessman who is heading a fund-raising effort for the $400,000 statue project.
According to the sculptor, the statue is about three months from completion. A groundbreaking had been scheduled for earlier this month, after the Planning Commission voted for Monument Avenue, but was canceled because of rising furor over the placement.
Those who opposed the site for historical reasons said Tuesday that they consider their struggle ended.
``The City Council chose to be politically correct instead of historically correct,'' said Wayne Byrd, president of the Heritage Preservation Society in Danville. He and others argued for a monument honoring black Confederate soldiers - in keeping with the avenue's Civil War theme.
``It's not that we oppose the monument, and we certainly won't want it removed,'' said Byrd, whose group championed the construction of a Danville monument displaying the Confederate flag.
``It's up to the citizens of Richmond. We just don't think it's appropriate,'' he said.
Local opponents of the Monument Avenue site also were left grousing by Tuesday morning's vote. Many felt the decision was more a product of racial jitters and pressure from the national spotlight than of prudence.
Indeed, the approval of a statue on the revered boulevard came with remarkable speed in a city so mindful of its past. Ashe, a Richmond native, died just 2 1/2 years ago. The debate over the Monument Avenue statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee took two decades.
There was no competition for the design of the statue, only the vision of a sculptor touched by an encounter with Ashe before his death. And before Monday, there was little citizen participation in the decision to place Ashe's statue on the avenue, although a biracial site selection group had settled on the spot and the Planning Commission had held a public hearing. Only four people showed up at the first hearing.
Some critics questioned whether the decision will seem as sensible 50 years hence.
``I respect Ashe and the Ashe family, but, I tell you, there are many more people in Richmond who have done great things for the state and for the country,'' said Barbara Rose, president of the civic association in the neighborhood where the statue will be placed.
``Will their families be given the option to choose a site for a statue?''
But even for those who would have placed the statue elsewhere, the debate is just about over. Many said they will monitor the final design and construction, but are through battling to keep Ashe off Monument Avenue.
Johnnie Ashe, Arthur's brother and the official spokesman for the family clan, said he was elated by the outcome. While the street may represent a noble past to some, his childhood memory is that Monument Avenue evoked a single feeling, he said.
``It created an inner drive for me as an individual to rise above what it represented,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The site on Monument Avenue was favored by the family of Richmonder
Arthur Ashe Jr.
by CNB