Benton Harbor City Commissioners have tabled a proposed design for a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. planned for Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get approval later.
At a Monday meeting, commissioners reviewed an amended plan for the Unified Civic Monuments Project proposal that included a few changes suggested by commissioners previously. However, Mayor Marcus Muhammad said the amended proposal still didn’t include the specific dimensions of the monument.
“When you render drawings and you’re rendering specifications, really, it should be clear about the square feet, how much is going to be taken up,” Muhammad said.
Muhammad noted the commission has already approved the installation of the monument at the park and supports the idea. He just wanted to get specifics, like square footage.
Designer Garth Woodruff didn’t have those numbers but described the monument.
“It is concrete, the base of it is,” Woodruff said. “The table is granite. The wall is granite…I don’t think that it’s really deviated greatly from the original idea other than some of the modifications that we’ve talked about due to the community giving feedback.”
Woodruff said he could get the dimensions to commissioners within a day. The changes include the addition of a window to a wall that’s part of the monument and a dove added to that wall.
Commissioners tabled the monument’s design until they can get more specifications.
