Covington's towering bronze statue of Ronald Reagan, a fixture at the city's Trailhead since 2008, could soon be hauled across town to the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center. The Covington City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a resolution donating the 9-foot, 1,300-pound statue to St. Tammany Parish government, clearing the way for a possible relocation to the courthouse plaza — though officials say no moving date has been set.
Why City Hall Wants the Statue Gone From the Trailhead
According to NOLA.com, the resolution allows St. Tammany Parish government to enter a cooperative endeavor agreement accepting the statue as a donation, and the parish has thrown its support behind the relocation project. Covington Mayor Mark Johnson said the statue currently faces the Trailhead's stage and obstructs sightlines for the venue's growing concert scene, which he said has outgrown its current facility. The Trailhead, which the city describes as a cultural resource center housing a museum and outdoor amphitheater and serving as a way station for the 26-mile Tammany Trace recreational trail, hosts concerts and other community events throughout the year, including free Thursday shows every April.
Johnson said the statue would be better suited at the Justice Center, parish-owned property where it would face a row of flags in an area on North Columbia Street designated for military veterans. If the move goes forward, per the same report, the statue would be relocated to salute those flags and nearby war memorials. Johnson called the courthouse plaza a more appropriate location for the monument, and Covington is separately planning to redesign and expand the Trailhead itself.
One Big Catch: The Taylor Foundation Has to Agree
Any relocation still needs a green light from the Patrick F. Taylor Philanthropic Foundation, which funded the statue's original $110,000 price tag. Johnson said Covington would withdraw the relocation plan entirely if the foundation does not sign off, and city officials have offered no timeline for when — or whether — the statue will actually be moved.
A Statue With No Direct Reagan Connection
The statue's backstory stretches back more than two decades. Ponchatoula artist Patrick Miller created the piece after New Orleans oilman and Reagan friend Patrick Taylor commissioned it; Taylor died in November 2004, halting the project, and the statue was completed in March 2007, about two years and four months later, according to nola.com.
Reagan himself never actually visited Covington during his eight years in the White House, though he made several stops in New Orleans, the outlet reports. Phyllis Taylor has said the Louisiana Legislature's 2003 naming of a stretch of U.S. 190 through Covington as the Ronald Reagan Highway, along with local officials' interest in honoring the former president, resonated with her husband as he considered where to place the statue. The legislature later extended that highway designation along U.S. 190 from the Mississippi state line in eastern St. Tammany Parish all the way to the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge.
Despite the lack of a personal tie between Reagan and the Northshore city, Mayor Johnson has said the statue still serves as a classic Americana symbol for Covington's residents. The Trailhead monument may be the world's tallest effigy of the 40th president, a distinction that has made it something of a local landmark regardless of where it ultimately ends up standing.
