An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood. (WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson has been noncommittal about the fate of the statues, saying in June that he would follow the “direction” of the people of Chicago about their ultimate fate.

Chicago artists Patricia Nguyen and John Lee’s design, “Breath, Form & Freedom,” has been selected for a public memorial dedicated to those who were allegedly tortured by former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge. (Credit: Patricia Nguyen and John Lee)

Chicago officials will use a $6.8 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to build eight new public monuments, including a monument to the more than 100 Black men who were tortured by Chicago Police officers trained by Jon Burge, a disgraced Chicago police commander.

(WTTW News)

Some organizations and governments are changing how they observe the holiday, if at all, while many still gather for the annual parade.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses the news media Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2021. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

The commission, which was formed more than two years ago in the wake of the social justice protests and unrest that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd, also recommended that the city remove the Italo Balbo monument as well as several monuments because of the way they depict Native Americans.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

In a statement released by her office, Lightfoot thanked Chicago’s Native American and Italian American communities for participating in the commission’s work, but did not address the future of the statues “regarded by many members of the Italian American community as a symbol of cultural pride” but considered “a bitter reminder of centuries of exploitation, conquest and genocide” to members of Chicago’s Native American community, according to the commission’s report.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed two years ago Friday to confront the “the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” by using the city’s public spaces to memorialize the “city’s true and complete history.” That promise remains unfulfilled, 729 days later.

This June 17, 2020 file photo shows Philadelphia police at Marconi Plaza near the Columbus statue in Philadelphia. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File)

Monday’s federal holiday dedicated to Christopher Columbus is highlighting the ongoing divide between those who view the explorer as a representative of Italian American history and others horrified by an annual tribute that ignores native people whose lives and culture were forever changed by colonialism.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

A “racial healing and historical reckoning project” launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she removed the city’s three statues of Christopher Columbus has stalled, and the statues remain in storage a year after they were wrenched from their pedestals.

(WTTW News)

Last summer, three Christopher Columbus statues were removed after violent altercations between police and protesters. For months, the sites sat empty. But last fall, a display of Italian American pride banners appeared in place of the former statue in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park in July 2020, where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

After a summer of social unrest and calls to remove some monuments, activists are still pushing for the city to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. How some groups envision reteaching the history of Christopher Columbus.

A Marine is posted outside the West Wing of the White House, signifying the President is in the Oval Office, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump’s proclamation Friday commemorating Columbus Day veered from a typical White House holiday announcement, with stark warnings of “radical activists” seeking to tarnish the explorer’s legacy.

An empty pedestal in Grant Park where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

After protests forced Mayor Lori Lightfoot to remove the city’s statues of Christopher Columbus, the city will launch an effort to “provide a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history,” the mayor’s office announced Wednesday. 

An empty pedestal in Grant Park where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood recently. (WTTW News)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the temporary removal of two Christopher Columbus statues in Chicago last week following protests that turned violent. Now, activists are hoping to make their removal permanent — but the debate isn’t over.

(WTTW News)

Chicago’s Christopher Columbus statues come down. Mayor Lightfoot and the president go toe-to-toe over federal law enforcement in Chicago. Some COVID-19 restrictions return, and baseball is back.

City municipal crews help guide the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as it is removed by a crane, Friday, July 24, 2020, in Chicago. A statue of Christopher Columbus that drew chaotic protests in Chicago was taken down early Friday amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal agents to the city. (Tyler LaRiviere / Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

While some aldermen praised Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to take down the statues of Christopher Columbus, others said Friday she should not have acted unilaterally in the middle of the night.

Courtney Johnson, a South Side resident, stands in front of a vandalized statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park on Saturday, June 15, 2020. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)

A towering likeness of Christopher Columbus no longer stands in Chicago’s Grant Park after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered for its “temporary” removal.