Mount Dora City Council Votes to Oppose Confederate Statue

The Mount Dora City Council on Thursday voted unanimously to join with five other Lake County municipalities in opposing a 9-foot bronze Confederate statue the Lake County Historical Museum in Tavares is planning to display.

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“The City of Mount Dora opposes the display and/or placement of the Edmund Kirby Smith statue, and/or the display or placement of any other symbol or figure representing hate, harm, aversion or the division of its citizens within any museum or other publicly maintained location within Lake County, Florida,” Vice Mayor Cathy Hoechst read.

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The group of residents argue that Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, who is depicted in the statue, has no ties to Lake County, that it does not meet requirements for an acceptable display and that it would divide the community by uncovering old wounds throughout Lake County’s African-American community.

The museum’s curator, Bob Grenier, has said the statue is “a work of art,” that it is part of Florida’s overall history and that it would simply serve to illustrate the section of the museum that honors Florida’s veterans.