INTRODUCTION
On November 12, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a bill to have a memorial built in
Washington,
D.C. to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Three years
later, the National Capital Planning Commission and the
Commission of Fine Arts
approved a 4-acre site for the memorial in the Tidal Basin on the National Mall in Washington,
D.C. There will be a crescent-shaped stone wall at the site with
words from Dr. King's
sermons and speeches. The "Stone of Hope"
will also feature a 30-foot statue of Dr. King.
The project will
cost 100 million dollars. As of the year 2005, about
35 million of that amount has been raised. Construction is scheduled to
begin in 2006 with a goal of 2008 set as the
year for the project to be finished.
