http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/michael-brown-memorial-to-be-replaced-with-plaque/article_04e42ee6-de62-5d97-be1a-631a098d2566.htmlFERGUSON • The memorial to Michael Brown on Canfield Drive has been removed and will replaced by a plaque, Mayor James Knowles III and Michael Brown Sr. announced Wednesday.
Knowles said the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis will store the stuffed animals and other items that have formed the temporary memorial down the center of Canfield Drive since Aug. 9, when Michael Brown was shot and killed there by a Ferguson police officer.
Flanked by newly-elected Ferguson City Council members Wesley Bell and Ella Jones, Knowles and Brown said the plaque will be part of a new permanent memorial in the area.
In an interview after the news conference, Bell said the new memorial along Canfield will include the figure of a dove, and that Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, had been involved with the planning. The metallic dove and the plaque will be embedded in the sidewalk along Canfield.
Brown’s father said the stuffed animals and other items along the road had become a safety hazard.
Wednesday would have been Michael Brown’s 19th birthday. His family and community members gathered at the memorial around noon and began removing the items. By about 1:15 p.m., the street was clear.
Knowles said Canfield would be repaved this week. Lipton Property Management Co., the owner of Canfield Green apartments, is paying for the project. Funding for the plaque was arranged by the family, a city spokesman said.
“We understand this situation is not easy for all parties involved,” Knowles said in a news release. “This event will forever be a part of Ferguson’s history — but it is important that the community moves forward.”
He said that resurfacing is part of a larger redevelopment effort for streets near West Florissant Avenue. The mayor hopes the state and federal government can pitch in for the “Great Streets” initiative, which he hopes will bring jobs, new construction and economic development to the area.
Michael Brown Sr. visits one of the teddy bear memorials on what would have been his son's 19th birthday on May 20, 2015. Nine months after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police offer, the city announced plans to take down the memorial and replace them with a permanent plaque. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
