Both the city and county of Los Angeles have plans to officially cancel Christopher Columbus Day by 2019, but signs of the change were already on display Monday in Grand Park, where a statue of the explorer was surrounded by a chain-link fence.
The downtown park near City Hall, the Stanley Mosk Courthouse and other government buildings is operated by Los Angeles County. The county Board of Supervisors voted last week to change the Columbus Day holiday on the second Monday in October to Indigenous Peoples Day by 2019, following the Los Angeles City Council’s vote in August to change the holidays by 2019.
The Columbus statue was the only monument in the park that appeared to have been surrounded with a fence, indicating county officials may have slated it for removal or were worried about potential vandalism.
Columbus Day was still officially observed Monday as a paid holiday for city and county workers, so officials were not available to comment on exactly when or why the statue was fenced in.
–City News Service