Nine months after Michael Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson, the city is exchanging the teen’s makeshift memorial for a permanent plaque.
Brown’s father, Mike Brown Sr., joined Ferguson Mayor James Knowles to make the announcement at a news conference today—what would have been Brown’s 19th birthday.
The current memorial, which stands in the exact location on Canfield Drive where Brown died on August 9, has accumulated dozens of stuffed animals from mourners. However, Mike Brown Sr. told reporters that the memorial has presented a safety hazard for motorists.
Volunteers gathered on the street today to deconstruct the memorial, which will be replaced in the coming weeks by a plaque cemented into the concrete and a dove statue, which was designed by Brown’s mother, Leslie McSpadden.
The plaque will be laid during the upcoming repaving of the street.