Design

What To Do With Baltimore's Empty Confederate Statue Plinths?

Put them to work, Trafalgar Square style.
"Gift Horse," by artist Hans Haacke, debuted on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square in 2015.Matt Dunham/AP

Baltimore suddenly has a surfeit of empty sculptural plinths. Overnight, Mayor Catherine Pugh and a fleet of trucks removed four Confederate monuments with a quickness not seen since the Colts skipped town. While other cities fret over what to do with Lost Cause memorials that are increasingly targets of ire and vandalism, Baltimore appears to have put the issue to rest.

With the statues gone, only opportunity remains. What can the city do with those empty (and now graffiti-covered) pedestal plinths? Baltimore could do worse than to take a page from London’s Trafalgar Square.