SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Three and a half years later, what remains of the controversy-shrouded memorial remains hidden behind a wooden box in a Santa Fe plaza. Now the new city council is once again trying to find a solution.
Since 2020, the Soldier's Monument in Santa Fe Square has remained closed. After years of broken promises, the city's newest leaders want to fix an ugly situation in the center of Santa Fe's tourist hotspot. “It's been four years. So I'm eager to see something happen. This temporary installation doesn't do the job of really speaking to the history of Santa Fe and what happened here,” said Alma Castro, Santa Fe City Councilwoman.
The monument was torn down amid protests over the obelisk, which was dedicated to Civil War-era soldiers but has been criticized for its depiction of Native Americans. Since it was dropped in 2020, part of it has remained in storage, and part of it is behind that wooden box, which was only supposed to last three months.
In 2021, the city of Santa Fe hired a firm to conduct a study that resulted in what is known as a “CHART report,” which cost the city about $300,000 and took a year to complete. Its recommendations – either rebuild the obelisk, or demolish it completely. “I feel like the CHART program was a failure in terms of having any say in what should be done or what the community resoundingly felt should be done,” Castro said.
Since then, the fate of the memorial has remained in limbo. Now with new members on the council, including Castro, the council wants to get the ball rolling. “I think people are interested, and there was a strong desire to have something flat so the community could dance and have fun and get together and have a good time in the plaza,” Castro said.
This is one idea that might entail moving the obelisk to a museum or veterans memorial park, with signs explaining the history and its significance to different groups. “It's clear that we want to come together around our downtown and not be divided, and that we're ready to move past everything that happened there and look to the future of our city,” Castro said.
Castro says the public should expect a discussion at City Council in the coming months. “We didn't have to spend $300,000. But we did. We'll take that and move forward and we'll be able to make an informed decision, I would say community approval,” Castro said.
