Denise Lavoie And Sarah Rankin December 11, 2020 - 3:35 PM RICHMOND, Va. - Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday announced a proposal to spend $25 million to transform historical sites in Virginia, including the Richmond spot where a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee became a recent focal point of protests against racism. Nearly $11 million of the money would be used to reconstruct Richmond's Monument Avenue, a historical boulevard that was lined with the Lee statue and other Confederate monuments for more than a century. Most of the statues were taken down in July after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered their removal amid weeks of protests following the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. At 21 feet (6 metres) tall, the bronze statue of Lee astride a horse towers over the avenue on a pedestal nearly twice as tall as the piece itself.