Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan, Jr., of the 16th District, is leading a proposal to move the General Douglas MacArthur statue from its current location in MacArthur Square to Veteran’s Park at the lakefront, according to a resolution he has authored.
The 9.5-foot, bronze statue, sculpted by Robert Dean, pays tribute to Douglas, who served as chief of staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and was a key military figure in World War II.
MacArthur briefly lived in Milwaukee while preparing to take the entrance exam to West Point, according to the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
The statue commemorating MacArthur has sat in MacArthur Square since it was unveiled to the public in 1979. But with little pedestrian traffic in the city-owned park, which is located along N. James Lovell. St. in Milwaukee, the statue has not garnered much attention or admiration over the years.
According to Supervisor Weishan’s resolution, a number of veterans organizations under the Veterans Community Relations Team (VCRT) are also advocating the relocation of the statue to the lakefront.
Weishan envisions a new home for the statue on the lakefront north of the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. His resolution recommends relocating and rededicating the statue in June during a week designated as “MacArthur Memorial Week.”
Costs of moving the statue would be covered by private donations, according to the resolution, and the relocation would be facilitated by the VCRT.
Weishan could not be reached for comment.
