MLK Monument Set for Construction

The National Capital Planning Commission gave final approval and issued a building permit for the memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. in the National Mall in Washington, D.C.early last week.

The project had been stalled for a year over disagreement on how to secure the site against domestic terrorism, but the commission finally signed off on a compromise.

The four-acre memorial will feature a 2 1/2 – story, 8 feet taller than the statue of Abraham Lincoln, granite sculpture of MLK called the Stone of Hope.

Construction is scheduled to be complete by the summer of 2011.