Confederate monument at Dowd YMCA to be removed – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte's main YMCA branch on East Morehead Street needs more space and standing in the way is a monument bearing the Confederate battle flag that sits on the street.

When the YMCA begins a $20 million expansion early next year, the monument will come down and won't be put back when construction is finished.

The Dowd YMCA building was built in 1960 and the renovation will extend the building into the parking lot forcing the monument's relocation.

The monument was placed on East Morehead Street in 1994 by the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  It honors the original site of the North Carolina military institute.

YMCA spokeswoman Molly Thompson told Channel 9 why the monument will not return to the property.

'We're committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all people, and the monument does challenge our commitment to being able to serve all," she said.

Bill Starnes doesn't believe that.  

He's with the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Gaston County and said the monument is just a target.

"I can assure you that if it was a monument to something other than the word Confederate in it, they'd find a place for it," Starnes said.

Starnes said his organization condemns people using the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate.

The marker uptown should offend no one because it merely describes historical fact, he said.

"This marker in Charlotte does not in any way glorify the Confederacy or anything else. It's a simple statement.  A simple historical statement," he said.

Starnes flies the Confederate flag at his home and said when a monument is threatened, history takes a back seat to emotion.

Other Charlotte monuments bearing the Confederate battle flag have been vandalized. The one outside the Dowd YMCA has not though Thompson said some have raised objections to it over the years.

A historical sign on East Morehead Street that also references the military institute will remain in front of the YMCA during and after the expansion is built.

Officials with the YMCA reached out to both organizations that put the monument in place 21 years ago.  However, it's not clear what will happen to it once it's removed. 
 
Thompson said the YMCA is planning to honor the history of the site inside the new building. That display will include the military institute as well as schools and other buildings that once stood on the site.

Construction isn't expected to begin until early next year and completed by 2018.

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