The $850,000 fundraising goal for the Unified Civic Monuments Project has been reached.
The Unified Civic Monuments Project is planning to build monuments to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in both Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, and work will now start in June. The project’s Jennifer Jacobs tells us the fundraising has been going on for three years, and it’s attracted a great deal of public support.
“I remember one commenter who said that it’s about time,” Jacobs said. “So, we’ve had a lot of support and a lot of interest in the location of the sites. We took a lot of feedback from people on the designs as well as the sites.”
Jacobs says some public suggestions were incorporated into the final designs, like having matching doves at both sites.
The final stretch of fundraising was completed when a crowdfunding campaign reached its $50,000 goal, triggering a $50,000 match from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. However, Jacobs says there will be ongoing efforts to raise money for programming related to the monuments.
“We’re going to continue raising funds. We have a curriculum committee that is working on a textbook that will be about local history through the lens of national civil rights events, and it will also include our projects of raising the monuments.”
The textbooks will be given to local schools. Jacobs says they also want to install signs with local historical information along the route between the two monuments. And continued fundraising will pay for maintenance of the monuments.
It’s hoped a public unveiling of the completed attractions can be held in the fall.
