On June 12, 2008 Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president of the foundation to build a national memorial on the National Mall told the Washington Post that the foundation "had raised $82 milliion of its goal of $100 million needed to complete and maintain the project."
Now the foundation has announced that it has raised $98.8 million and that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $3 million in donations. BUT... and here's the catch, even with that donation... it's going to need another more money, that is an additional $20 million. The reason: "because of rising security, design and construction costs." Now that is strange because on June 12, 2008 Russell Berman wrote in "The New York Sun" that the revised design for the proposed statue "makes no changes to King's pose or facial expression."
Since 1,000 tons of granite have yet to be shipped to the U.S.A. from China for the sculptor to reassemble on the National Mall... what security, design, and construction costs are involved? What has nearly $100 million been spent on for the last three years since ground was broken on the mall? How much is the Chinese sculptor being paid? How much is it going to cost to ship his work to this country? How does the MLK Foundation justify taking trips to Italy, China, and other countries to inspect granite? Why wasn't a national or international competition held for the statue of Dr. King as it was for the total design? Who is providing oversight of this historically important project so many of us - worldwide - really want to see become a reality on the Mall? A private foundation raising millions of dollars for a four-acre monument on the Tidal Basin, public property, apparently doesn't have to answer to anyone about how funds are used. But the well could soon run dry if the King family and the King Memorial Foundation are both seeking funds from the same corporations and groups. Only time will tell.
