On June 17, Dylann Storm Roof killed nine parishioners inside Charleston’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church with the intent on starting a race war. Instead, a nationwide debate on the Confederate Battle Flag and it’s meaning took place, with the end result being the flag’s removal from the state house grounds in July.
However, the controversial flag is being housed at South Carolina’s Museum Confederate Relic Room and the the cost to do so, according to the Military Museum Commission, is a whopping $3.6 million, which is $1.7 million less than originally proposed.
According to the Charlotte Observer, the commission unanimously approved the plan which includes erecting a new a wing that will display an electronic representation of the names of all 24,000 South Carolina confederate soldiers killed in the Civil War.
Allen Roberson, the relic room director, said simply hiding the flag won’t solve the longstanding controversy surrounding it.
“Just putting [the flag] in a box won’t settle a controversy that has gone on. We are the institution to resolve this. And this is a solution to resolve the problem as best as we can.”