The generic Confederate statue in downtown Lakeland’s Munn Park has stirred controversy since 2015. 

On Dec. 4, 2017, Lakeland commissioners voted to move it and asked staff to research relocation sites.

City staff finished compiling a report on March 13, recommending the Confederate monument be moved to either Veterans Park or Roselawn Cemetery, where there are already graves of confederate soldiers.

Near the monument, people had varying opinions.

“Roselawn if apparently there’s a lot of the Confederacy already there,” said Helen Curtis, who was visiting downtown Lakeland. “Having their own special moment in time in that place is a great way to honor them.”

“Veterans Park because more people would get to enjoy it,” said Roma Crisalli, a Lakeland resident.

Spectrum Bay News 9 conducted a poll on its Facebook page. As of 2 p.m., Sunday, more than 227 people had voted. Sixty-six percent preferred Veterans Park over Roselawn Cemetery.

City spokesman Kevin Cook said moving the monument won’t be cheap.

“It’s about $150,000 to take this down and relocate it and then put it all back together,” Cook said.

The $150,000 is a quote from Energy Services and Product Corporation, the same company that moved a similar monument in Hillsborough County.

It’s a price tag Cori Blythe disagrees with.

“I think that moving it would be a big waste of money for the city of Lakeland itself and a poor use of our taxpayers’ dollars,” Blythe said.

Cook said it hasn’t been decided if the relocation will be paid for through taxpayer dollars or through fundraising.

There’s other issues too. Veterans Park sits on top of what used to be the historically black Moorhead neighborhood. Roselawn Cemetery is adjacent to a historically black cemetery.

Cook said commissioners are still digesting the report. Ultimately, it will be up to them to decide. He said they haven’t set a date on when they will discuss the monument, but he expects it to happen in the next couple of weeks.