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MLK memorial back on table

By LORRI HELFAND
Published January 27, 2007

LARGO - Largo's longstanding but unfocused plan to create a memorial honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gained new life this week.

On Tuesday night, City Commissioner Rodney Woods asked city leaders to make the memorial, which has been tied to the fate of other projects, a stand-alone effort.

"I don't want the general public to get the impression that city of Largo's heart is not in this project," said Woods, who was on the city's five-member Martin Luther King Jr. memorial committee before he was elected to the commission.

City Manager Steve Stanton said he plans to ask commissioners for $200,000 to $250,000 for the memorial.

This week's discussion may revive a project that has languished in recent years.

In 2003, the city formed a committee to create a memorial for the King at Largo Central Park.

But almost four years later, there is no concrete plan for the project, which had been linked to the renovation of the old library, now being demolished, or the creation of a new entrance at the park.

Some, like memorial committee member Wanda McCawthan, had gotten that impression. It has taken so long for the project to start that she thought the project was on the back burner.

Another committee member, the Rev. J. Arnold Johnson, said he knew the city would follow through, someday.

"I had no doubt it would be going in," he said.

But much of the project, including the cost, is still up in the air.

The city originally allocated $19,100 for the memorial, considerably less than what Stanton said he will propose.

City leaders seem eager to move forward with the project but at least a couple of commissioners think Stanton's estimate is too high.

"It's way higher than anything we've talked about before," said Mayor Pat Gerard. "I don't think we have to go crazy."

"I could not fathom why he would want that kind of money," said Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier.

But Stanton said the original figure was suggested for an "undefined" concept. And he doesn't want the city to confront the same issues it dealt with in the park's Military Court of Honor, which had to be torn up and replaced about a decade after it was built because of inferior materials.

Exactly what form the memorial would take is not known, either, although Woods said he wants to incorporate concepts suggested by the original committee.

Previous proposed elements have included:

- A granite lectern with King's picture and a quotation reminding the community of his role as an orator and motivator.

- Several of King's notable quotations emblazoned on slabs so students could make rubbings during field trips.

- A community water fountain that would symbolize unity and allow three or four people to drink at the same time.

Over the past five years, the city, which is about 93 percent white, has wrestled with how, when and where to honor King.

First, officials debated renaming a street after King, but eventually agreed to do so.

Then, in 2003, a festival on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was proposed and residents from the Greater Ridgecrest area, a primarily black community, were invited. Ridgecrest, which has its own celebration, asked the city to join them instead. Largo initially declined and canceled its event, but weeks later instituted an annual celebration of its own.

While the King memorial is back on the table, the timeline for the project is still unknown because, in many ways, the city is starting from scratch.

Woods said he will request a work session so the commission can discuss the memorial in more detail.

"I honestly believe the city and commission as a whole wants to move forward with this project," Woods said.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or lorri@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 27, 2007, 00:14:57]