St. Joseph City Commissioners have signed off on a proposed location for a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Unified Civil Rights Monuments Project is seeking to install monuments to the civil rights legend in both Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. St. Joe Commissioners this past week agreed the south end of the Upton Arboretum is a good fit. Mayor Laura Goos supported the idea.
“I’m thrilled that the parks board unanimously supported that,” Goos said. “I think it’s a great location.”
Goos said the plan of the Unified Civil Rights Monuments Project will go beyond just MLK.
“What they want to do is, yes, the first figure is Martin Luther King Jr. but they want to work in the ability to have local civil rights leaders in the monument itself.”
The Benton Harbor MLK monument will be at Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park. St. Joseph Commissioners noted the final design of the monument is yet to be determined, and in fact, its location will guide the artists on that decision. The city parks advisory board and city commissioners will have to approve that design as well. The goal is to construct the monument next year.
