The makeshift memorial dedicated to Michael Brown has undergone a lot of changes since the teen was gunned on August 9, 2014. On several occasions, the community came together to reconstruct the shrine after it was burned down. Thankfully, the path on Canfield Drive that was once filled with stuff animals, flowers and other items will be replaced with something more permanent.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III and Michael Brown Sr. recently announced that a plaque remembering the high school graduate will be placed down the center of Canfield Drive.
Knowles and Brown say that the plaque will be a part of a new, more permanent memorial in the area. According to newly elected Ferguson City Council member Wesley Bell, the new memorial will also include the figure of a metallic dove that will be embedded along the sidewalk. Brown’s mother Lesly McSpadden assisted with the planning.
Knowles also shared that Canfield will be repaved. Lipton Property Management Co., owners of the Canfield Green apartments, is funding the repavement endeavor. Funding for the plaque was arranged by the family of the teen.
Apparently, the stuffed animals and other items that lined the street had become a bit of a safety hazard. While Knowles shared that the items that once occupied the space will be stored by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, many of the stuffed animals were spotted in a trash bin outside of the Urban League.
When questioned about the memorial items going into the trash, Knowles said, “We didn’t remove the items and we never took possession.”
We imagine that the removal of the makeshift memorial, which occurred on Wednesday, had to be an emotional experience for Brown’s parents and the community members involved. Wednesday would’ve been the teen’s 19th birthday.
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