Work is under way on King memorial in D.C.
Published 11:17 pm Friday, January 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — Construction is finally under way on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall after more than a dozen years of planning, fundraising and legal wrangling.
Workers have been clearing the site on the Tidal Basin since Dec. 28. They will move some trees to another part of the mall, including a few of Washington’s famous cherry trees. By February, heavy construction will begin.
Monday will mark the first King holiday, though, when organizers can finally see their work in progress.
“Everyone in the office is taking a deep breath,” executive architect Ed Jackson Jr. said Friday. “Although it’s been a labor of love, it’s been a long road, 13 years for me.”
It was supposed to be completed by now. President Bill Clinton signed a law authorizing the memorial in 1996, and President George W. Bush appeared at a ceremonial groundbreaking with Oprah Winfrey and others in 2006.
Numerous design approvals and a disagreement with the National Park Service over how to secure the site against domestic terrorism delayed the project.
“We had no idea it would take this long,” Jackson said. Still, he said, the years of work will pay off as millions of visitors will eventually see King’s words engraved in stone.
The private foundation working to build the memorial is still raising money to complete it. To date, $108 million of the $120 million needed has been raised, a spokeswoman said. In recent months, the Boeing Co. has been running television ads promoting the project.
