Stone Mountain Park:

In 1958 the state of Georgia purchased the mountain and the surrounding land. The Georgia General Assembly created the Stone Mountain Memorial Association. In 1960 the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Advisory Committee was comprised of six internationally known figures in the world of art. A competition was held, and nine world-renowned sculptors submitted designs for a new sculpture.

In 1963, based upon recommendations by the Advisory Committee, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association chose Walker Kirkland Hancock of Gloucester, Massachusetts to complete the carving. Work resumed in 1964, and a new technique utilizing thermo-jet torches was used to carve away the granite. Chief carver Roy Faulkner, a marine veteran with a talent for using the new thermo-jet torch, was able to remove tons of stone in one day. For over eight years Park guests could see and hear the workmen and their jet torches.

The figures were completed with the detail of a fine painting. Eyebrows, fingers, buckles and even strands of hair were fine-carved with a small thermo-jet torch.

The carving is actually much larger than it appears from Stone Mountain Park's attractions. Workers could easily stand on a horse's ear or inside a horse's mouth to escape a sudden rain shower. A dedication ceremony for the Confederate Memorial Carving was held on May 9, 1970. Finishing touches to the masterpiece were completed in 1972.

HTH.

Cheers,
Scott.

According to my reading of the previous linky, anyway. I don't see how much the State paid to finish the carving, but it's clear that it wouldn't have been done without Georgia's protection and blessing of the site.

AJC:

Councilman Michael Julian Bond is behind a resolution asking Deal to form a committee to study possible changes to the famous state-owned memorial.

Bond, who described the relief of Confederate generals as “art,” said he doesn’t believe it should be sandblasted off the face of the mountain. Instead, state leaders should explore adding others to the carving who reflect Georgia’s broader history, he said, such as James Oglethorpe, President Jimmy Carter or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“That would make Stone Mountain, I think, an enlightened place that reflects all of Georgia’s history,” he said. “…Georgia’s history is much greater than the four years of the Confederacy; it’s much more diverse and rich than that period which has been highly romanticized, particularly in the last 50 to 60 years.”

[...]

Just what should become of the carving that towers over pedestrians and cyclists at Stone Mountain has become the stuff of heated and satirical debate in the wake of South Carolina’s decision to remove the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds.

Last month, the council unanimously backed Councilman Andre Dickens’ resolution that urges state officials to remove the Confederate Battle Flag emblem and other Confederate symbols as an option for state license plates.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Kasim Reed said Reed hasn’t yet reviewed the legislation and has no comment at this time.

A spokesman for the governor said they could not comment because they have not reviewed the proposal. In late June, the governor said he won’t rule out comprehensive changes to state laws that protect Confederate images, but urged against sweeping reactions to those symbols amid the recent uproar over the emblems, saying the state “cannot deny its heritage.”

Bond also introduced legislation that asks Deal to give funds to GBI to investigate officer-involved shootings if racial biases are alleged. It passed unanimously.

(Emphasis added.)

It's all just yammering until they change those laws.

When I was living in Cobb County as a kid, the thing that I recall everyone being so proud about Stone Mountain was the size of the rock itself, and the size of the carving. It wasn't the subject matter so much. (Yeah, kids loved telling stories about how tough the generals were, or how their family owned Cheatham Hill, etc., but there wasn't a religious reverence about them as there seems to be now. Or at least that's my recollection.)

I like the idea of broadening the coverage of Georgia's history in the park, but it's not necessary to deface the rock even more IMHO. Yes, the symbolism matters, but doing the real work to put white male supremacy in the past matters much more. The decades and millions of dollars that it would take to change the rock could be much better spent elsewhere.

My $0.02.

Cheers,
Scott.