REIDSVILLE — Five years ago, a traffic accident took out Reidsville's 100 year-old Conferderate monument in its downtown circle.
After much controversy and debate, a new piece of public art now stands where the statue once did.
“The title of the piece is called 'budding future,' which really says a lot of about what's happening in Reidsville right now,” said sculptor Jim Gallucci.
Gallucci crafted the sculpture, which he says helps take strides towards a common ground.
"I would say an optimistic future is really what this sculpture is representing,” Gallucci said. “The new future that's going to bud forth. We don't know how it's going to blossom."
Before starting the project, Galluci got feedback from dozens of people in Reidsville for several months, asking what they wanted and didn't want on the new sculpture.
"It's not only meant to enjoy, but really for people to create discussion and community,” Gallucci said. “It brought a lot of people in the community together that have never done any of this. It was really a civic lesson going on."
Its base is a star, representing Reidsville's distinction as an all-American community.
Etched across are people and relics from the city's history.
"We are memorializing Susie Sharp, who was the first female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court,” said Mayor Jay Donecker. “There's also a Lucky Strike logo. For many, many years, Lucky Strikes were produced either at a tobacco plant in Reidsville or Durham as part of the tobacco empire."
Celebrating the past, while looking towards the future.
"Being a community that embraces diversity, embraces change, but we don't forget where we all came from,” Donecker said.
The original monument was repaired and moved to a privately owned plot in the city-owned cemetery, where it overlooks the graves of Confederate soldiers.