City Will Not Move Ten Commandments Monument During Construction Project

As ground breaks at the new temporary parking lot for Fargo City Hall it’s hard not to be reminded of the controversial monument on the site.

For those who have lived in Fargo for a few years this monument likely brings back some memories of past headlines.

There have been multiple attempts through the years to have it removed.

In every instance though city commissioners ruled in favor of keeping it.

For many people in Fargo the monument is very important.

“What makes the ten commandments unique is that these are things that people do. People covet, people steal and I think they’re very much as relevant today as they were say 2000 years ago,” says Fargo local Donald Ferguson.

“I think of the eighth commandment where it talks about not slandering your neighbor but instead defending somebody, even if you agree with them or don’t agree with them. Looking at our current political climate you can definitely see where that would be something we need to be reminded of,” says Pastor Laurie Neill of First Lutheran Church.

With the need for parking during the construction of the new Fargo City Hall the monument was once again considered for removal or relocation.

The commissioners made their decision early last year.

The groundbreaking of this parking lot marks the beginning of the construction of the new city hall and thanks to the decision 18 months ago the relics here in this plaza will remain untouched.

“We just utilized the space we have available without disrupting the entire civic plaza here and so that’s what we’re doing. We’ll get about 40 spaces which we think for business traffic for city hall, municipal library and the civic center will work real well,” says Fargo City Administrator Bruce Grubb.

For now at least the council says there are no plans or proposals in the works to move the monument anytime in the near future.

Once the new city hall is completed the temporary parking lot will be reconstructed into the Civic Center Plaza which the Ten Commandments Monument will continue to stand in.