KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Fountain of the Pioneers is leaving Bronson Park after 78 years.

Early Tuesday morning, the Kalamazoo City Commission voted 5-1 to relocate the Fountain of the Pioneers from its most-prized park and develop a plan for putting something new in its place. It was the culmination of recent activism -- though public debate has persisted since the monument was established -- climaxing with five hours of comments from indigenous people, residents and historians.

Post-midnight discussion on moving Bronson Park fountain. Kalamazoo scheduled to decide now. Posted by Kalamazoo Gazette on Monday, March 5, 2018

A vote wasn't held until after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Mayor Bobby Hopewell and commissioners David Anderson, Don Cooney, Eric Cunningham and Shannon Sykes Nehring voted in favor of removing the fountain, while Commissioner Jack Urban voted to keep it in place.

Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said the fountain will be dismantled and put into storage in either the spring or summer.

The controversial monument pits a Native American in headdress head-to-head with a westward-facing settler. This charged imagery sustained a long debate about what Alfonso Iannelli intended to convey since the fountain was finished in 1940.

Vice Mayor Erin Knott was not present Monday, but more than 130 people filled the commission chambers. Some volunteered to watch from another room to keep the room under capacity.

Before commissioners took their seats, City Hall was filled with the thundering drumbeat of indigenous demonstrators. Seven men rhythmically pounded a large drum outside the commission chambers while a group of five women marched around the second floor.

During his opening invocation, Missional Chaplains Director Michael Kemple prayed for a night of civil discussion. Despite the boisterous opening displays, the meeting was not disrupted.

Speakers were generally split on what to do about the fountain. Some asked the City Commission make the question a ballot measure, but the city attorney said that's not possible.

Some felt the monument celebrates the violent removal of indigenous peoples from Kalamazoo, making the park a hostile and unwelcoming place. It's symbolic of the survival of white supremacist ideology, members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians said.

Existing symbols of forced removal cause daily pain to indigenous people, said Seth Allard. The veteran is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and is also known as "Man Who Walks The Red Road."

Kalamazoo decides whether to remove controversial Bronson Park fountain. Posted by Kalamazoo Gazette on Monday, March 5, 2018

The conversation was held on the same day white nationalist Richard Spencer came to speak at Michigan State University. It was a fact not lost on supporters of the fountain's removal, who said racism is alive and well today.

"I'm so deeply saddened by the lack of empathy we have witnessed here tonight," Sykes Nehring said. "Our trauma and pain is not a matter of opinion."

She said the question before the commission is simple: Does every resident have the same right to enjoy the park without trauma?

Others said the fountain is a necessary reminder of the harsh treatment of Native Americans. They said taking it down amounts to erasing parts of the nation's ugly history, while also lamenting the loss of a powerful piece of public art.

Urban said the statue needs to be removed for a reason the community will understand and remember, or it will have been pointless. He pushed the commission to drive racial reconciliation.

"I expect that as soon as this decision is made, all the energy will evaporate and we will go back to sleep," he said. "That's why when I vote no on this I'm holding everyone who votes yes and the rest of community accountable for making sure if we are going to move that statue away it is for a reason."

Does the fountain depict an act of violence against the Native American subject? Would removing it constitute censorship?

It depends on where you sit. Those who spoke had clashing interpretations of the monument.

Former Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Director Jim Bridenstine said future generations may not interpret the fountain as being racist. Throughout history, works have been destroyed due to interpretations at the time, he said, to the dismay of those who come later.

Still, Anderson said commissioners aren't "arbiters of good art." He said their decision is about shared prosperity.

It's not yet clear where the artistic elements of the fountain will go.

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum both have indicated they do not have the required space to hold it.

Monday's vote also changes a $2.8 million master plan for Bronson Park.

Since the plan was set in motion in 2016, the city has raised funds for a wide range of park improvements, including repairs to the concrete fountain. Fundraising was put on hold last fall after the fountain debate reemerged.

The master plan included $1.25 million in repairs to the fountain complex.

Thirty-four donors gave $515,000 to fund repairs to the fountain so far, according to the city. Others donated to broadly support the master plan.

One resident, who campaigned on behalf of the fundraiser, said removing the fountain will make the master plan process "a joke." She said it would alienate donors at a time when the city is in need of more philanthropy than ever before.

Donors who contributed could have their money returned, Chamberlain said.

Educational components of the plan, created with the approval of the indigenous Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, will not change.

This includes markers at historic boundaries of formerly indigenous land, an educational app, programs in Kalamazoo Public Schools and other things.

The Bronson Park master plan was the result of a 12-year effort to mitigate the public's concerns. Hopewell said he's been a staunch supporter of keeping the fountain in place because he felt the city "did the right thing" at the time.

"My frustration has been that we as a commission made a decision to move forward and got folks working and then we have this discussion," Hopewell said.

However, his "heart has been moved" after hearing hours of public comment.

Hopewell wondered if it would be easier to turn the water on, leave the fountain alone and let the environment degrade it over time.

Multiple organizations made formal recommendations to the city.

In a statement dated March 1, City Manager Jim Ritsema recommended moving the fountain elsewhere. He said his thinking was influenced by listening to residents who said the prominent park is not being enjoyed by all.

Last October, the city's Historic Preservation Commission agreed that the fountain should stay. A representative of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network said it is a valuable piece of art that should remain as a "cultural resource."

Kalamazoo County has been largely silent. It leases Bronson Park to the city, and has given Kalamazoo the abiltiy to make changes to the park without county permission.

Chairman of the Gun Lake Tribe Scott Sprague sent a letter to Mayor Bobby Hopewell last October. In the letter, Sprague said the Tribal Council supports improvements to Bronson Park.

It also said removing the fountain will not change a history of violence against their people.

The director of Kalamazoo In Bloom, a nonprofit dedicated to beautifying the county, asked the city to keep the fountain in place Monday. The organization is responsible for planting large animal topiaries in Bronson Park each spring.

A petition to continue the Bronson Park plan accumulated more than 1,000 signatures in support.

A Change.org petition, "Remove the Fountain of the Pioneers to Cease Ongoing Trauma for Native-American Citizens," received more than 900 signatures as of Monday evening.

In a letter sent to the City Commission, 20 organizations and businesses formally showed their support for removing the fountain. This includes: