PHILADELPHIA — Complying with a court order, the City of Philadelphia late Sunday night removed the plywood box that has concealed the statue of Christopher Columbus in South Philadelphia's Marconi Park for 2 1/2 years.
With the aid of a cherry picker and several spotlights, workers disassembled the box around 9:30 p.m. to the jubilation of passing motorists on Broad Street who honked car horns and whistled. Some stopped to take pictures of the exposed statue.
About five to 10 onlookers gathered in a stiff, cold breeze to take in the latest chapter in a lengthy battle that began as soon as the statue was covered with plywood amid racial justice protests in June 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
