Benton Harbor City Commissioners have signed off on the placement of a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Dwight P. Mitchell City Center Park. At meeting this past week, they considered the proposal from the Unified Civic Monuments Project that also involves placing a monument to MLK across the river in St. Joseph. Commissioner Jerry Edwards was all for the monument and its proposed location.
“To me, it’s a no brainer,” Edwards said. “Tell me I can’t see this man on Main Street, City [Center] Park. If you put him in any other city, it’d be a no brainer.”
There were some questions about the size of the monument. The Unified Civic Monuments Project’s Sharon Brown said all input is valued.
“You’re touching my heart, and none of your comments have gone unnoticed. We’ve been wanting to hear from you, and so even the last time we were here, we’ve already typed and sent every last one of your comments to the artists.”
Some commissioners had concerns about the monument being at City Center Park, where several large community events take place. They wondered if there would be enough room. Edwards said the proposed location is at the north end of the park where there’s a horse shoe-shaped walkway. He said not a lot of foot traffic goes through that spot. The commission approved the proposal.
