Charlottesville seeks information on removal, relocation, transfer of ownership of statue

The City of Charlottesville has issued a request for information to determine the future of the “Their First View of the Pacific” statue.

The effort from the city, initiated in 2019, comes after Charlottesville City Council received input on the statue depicting Sacajawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark located at the intersection of Ridge Street, West Main Street and McIntire Road.

Lineal descendants of Sacajawea expressed their extreme displeasure with the depiction of Sacajawea in the statue.

The recipient of the statue would bear all of the associated financial costs related to the removal work. In return for this service, the City of Charlottesville would transfer full ownership of the statue to the recipient at no cost to the recipient.

The city is asking interested parties to explain their interest in the statue and to state their intended purpose for the statue, including proposed locations and future uses.

The complete request for information and instructions on how to respond can be downloaded from the city’s website.

The request for information will inform the city’s next steps toward removal of this statue. City Council also directed staff to present a plan for a new statue of Sacajawea and other memorializations of Virginia native peoples with primary consultation from indigenous people on the design of the statue and other memorializations of Virginia native peoples.

That portion of the project has not been started.