The Demopolis City Council voted Thursday to replace the soldier that stood atop a Confederate memorial with an obelisk. The motion was approved by a 3-2 vote.

The soldier will be repaired, but instead of being placed back on the memorial it will be displayed within the city. The location for the display was not discussed Thursday, but in earlier meetings it was stated it could be the Marengo County History and Archives Museum.

The vote came upon hearing a recommendation from an eight-member committee formed to research and discuss the future of the statue and memorial. That recommendation calls for a 7-feet or taller obelisk being placed on the existing base with an engraving commemorating all fallen soldiers from all wars.

The soldier stood atop the Confederate memorial since its was erected in 1910 as a project of the Daughters of the Confederacy. It was damaged in July 2015 when a Demopolis police officer fell asleep at the wheel of a patrol car in the early morning hours, striking and damaging the memorial.

More details will be published in the Saturday, April 22, print edition of the Demopolis Times.