Gerald Ensley: Memorial will be thought-provoking addition to plaza

Memorial will be thought-provoking addition to plaza

Gerald Ensley
The View From Here

Dowe want the body of a possibly dead police officer? even if it's just a statue? gracing the Old Capitol?

Maybe. Because maybe not everything around the Old Capitol has to be historic. And maybe art should make us think about serious topics.

So the "Fallen Officer" memorial should be an interesting addition to the Capitol plaza? even if it has evoked protest.

Local artist Ed Jonas was one of the first to respond to last week's news that the Florida Police Benevolent Association and local artist Michael Jernigan intended to place the memorial on the plaza between the capitols.

Police officers, their families and others also registered objections online and by phone.

The memorial will be a bronze statue of a downed police officer, attended by another officer. It will be installed next spring. The fallen officer is meant to be seen as injured, though not necessarily dead.

Far be it from Jonas, who has sculpted several prominent statues around town, to be against artistic expression. But he objects to placing the "Fallen Officer" memorial on the west side of the Old Capitol.

Jonas, who was the Department of State's staff artist when the Old Capitol was restored as a museum in 1982, remembers the directive to "protect the 1902 envelope" of the building. The clutter of 20 memorials added to the grounds in the 20th century was stripped away.

Only two monuments were left on the green east lawn of the Old Capitol: the 1861 Parkhill Monument in memory of a Leon County soldier killed in the Seminole Wars and the 1887 Confederate Monument in memory of all Confederate solders.

Though neither monument is in its original place, both were part of the 1902 Old Capitol appearance. Jonas said that appearance should be preserved.

"I think (the new statue) is opening a floodgate and going down a road we tried to clean up when we restored the Old Capitol," Jonas said. "If we can say yes to this, how can we say no to anyone else?"

Yet that horse is already out of the barn. The Legislature? which stipulated the Old Capitol's 1902 "envelope"? has now allowed four monuments on the plaza, including:
A monument to Martin Luther King Jr. (1984).
A Florida Fraternal Order of Police monument and wall of names honoring law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty (2000).
And the Purple Heart Society monument (2004).

"Fallen Officer," approved in 2007, will be placed with the Fraternal Order of Police memorial.

Legislators approved those monuments, some suggest, because the plaza is not really part of the Old Capitol. It's a "transition zone" between the capitols that's used for receptions, rallies and ceremonies.

"The plaza is not historic. It's a ceremonial place," said David Ferro, supervising architect for the Department of State. "To take the position that nothing should be there that wasn't there in 1902 is unrealistic."

Of course, much of the argument about "Fallen Officer" stems from its graphic nature. Critics say it's one thing to erect a wall of names of police officers killed in the line of duty? but another to display a statue of a possibly dead officer. Jernigan disagrees.

"What I think it does is capture the public's emotion from the standpoint that these officers put their lives on the line every day," he said. "Do they die in tragic ways? Yes. But is it something we should all (be aware of)? I think so."

Jonas suggested such a "dramatization" should be in a place of "serene reflection," such as the planned Cascades Park.

Jernigan counters that the plaza is visited only by those who intend to go there ? such as legislators who make funding and regulatory decisions about police officers.

"You want a venue where those who deal with the issues will see it," he said. "For all (police) issues, this is where the action is."

David Murrell, Florida PBA executive director, agreed. He said the annual police recognition day is held every May in the plaza, so "what more fitting place could there be?"

"My prediction is this is going to be wildly popular, because of how moving it is and how it does justice to fallen police officers," Murrell said. "A year from now, everyone will be proud of it, even if they aren't now."

Senior Writer Gerald Ensley
Tallahassee Democrat