ST. LOUIS — The statue of a Native American that had stood watch at the northwest corner of Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue has been removed.
The statue will be donated to the National Building Arts Center, a repository for area architectural artifacts in Sauget, the statement said.
The sculptor, Bill Christman, endorsed the statue’s removal.
The statue was commissioned in 1985 by the Cherokee Station Business Association to serve as a landmark for the street and its resurgent commercial district.
“However, the statue does not appropriately honor the indigenous communities that have called this land home,” the business district’s statement said.
From base to top, the fiberglass statue stood 21 feet high and weighed about 200 pounds. It had been anchored by steel posts driven into a below-ground concrete plug.
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