It was recently reported that a proposed statue of Chuck Berry in his home town of St Louis, Missouri, had courted opposition from some who deemed the accolade inappropriate, given the 84-year-old’s past criminal convictions. Now, the statue has been given the final go-ahead and will be erected this week, with a special ceremony to take place on July 29 that Berry will attend himself.
Reuters reports that the University City council rejected a last-minute petition from an opposing faction led by 86-year-old former city council member Elsie Glickert, who had said, “This man is a felon and not a friend of women. It is a misuse of tax dollars to honor him on public property.”
She also argued that the council had not followed procedure in allowing the statue to be built on a public bikeway.
