Dallas City Council will consider the future of Robert E. Lee statue next week

The controversial Robert E. Lee statue that was removed from a Dallas park may find a new home near Fort Worth.

The park’s name was quickly changed from Lee Park to Oak Lawn Park, but the city pumped the brakes late last year on finding a new home for the statue.

Now it appears the council might be ready to move forward. Public documents released by the City of Dallas on Friday night suggest the council consider moving the statue to the Texas Civil War Museum. It’s just off 820 near Fort Worth in White Settlement. It’s a large museum containing artifacts that touch on both the Confederacy and the Union.

The statue was removed in September after outcry over what it meant in terms of race. The Dallas City Task Force recommended several parameters as to where the statue might go. They wanted to have it somewhere that can be used and given proper context on what it all means.

The Texas Civil War Museum executive director Cindy Harriman says her facility can do that.

“We want to interpret it as it would have been that's how we incorporate our whole museum; we don't ever try to tell people what to think. We just want you to come in and study it.”

The council will also consider recommendations as to whether the Confederate war memorial near Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center be moved as well. City staff is recommending that monument not move and instead be given historical context.

The council will take up these issues on Wednesday.