Bollards approved to protect Capitol’s Ten Commandments

A replacement for the Arkansas Capitol’s shattered Ten Commandments monument is likely to be installed in “a matter of weeks,” according to a lawmaker involved with the project.

On Tuesday, the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission approved plans to install four concrete bollards around the base of the replacement monument. The original was destroyed in June when a Dodge Dart was driven into it.

The commission’s approval for the added security features was the last official step to be taken before installation of the replacement monument, which has already received the commission’s blessing.

The security features — four concrete bollards embedded more than 3 feet in the ground, with another 3 feet rising above ground — are to be placed at each corner of the new monument, close enough together to prevent a car from driving through.

The bollards will be cream-colored, to match the color of similar protections encircling the Capitol’s monument to the Little Rock Nine of Central High School’s 1957 desegregation crisis.

The replacement monument and the added security are being paid for with private funds from the American History and Heritage Foundation.

Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, a representative of the foundation, said the new monument has already been created. All that’s left to do, he said, was to have the group’s construction team organize the installation with the secretary of state’s office.

Installing the monument depends mostly on the weather and holiday schedule, said Chief Deputy Secretary of State Kelly Boyd.

In addition to installing the bollards and the new stone slab on which the Commandments are written, Boyd said crews will have to replace the base, which was damaged in the crash.