Portland ready to reveal proposed designs for Martin Luther King memorial

Portland is ready to reveal the designs put forth by the three parties competing for the contract to design a memorial honoring the legacy of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jessica Grondin, the city’s spokeswoman, said in a written statement that the design proposals will be presented Nov. 14 during a 5:30 p.m. meeting at Portland City Hall.

Robert Katz, an artist and educator from August, is one finalist. The other finalists are: TJD&A Landscape Architects of Yarmouth, which was founded by landscape architect Terry DeWan; and Ironwood Design Group of Newmarket, New Hampshire.

Grondin said the memorial is intended to inspire visitors to the city to reflect on King’s life and the values he espoused.

In May, the city’s Martin Luther King Selection Committee invited interested applicants to present their preliminary plans. Nine submissions were received and in July the committee selected three finalists to develop a more detailed proposal – each finalist will receive $2,500 for their efforts.

“I look forward to seeing and reviewing the fully developed proposal from the finalists, and I hope that many members of our community will attend the meeting in order to learn more about the vision of these proposals,” Jill Duson, a city councilor who serves as co-chair of the selection committee, said in a statement.

“A monument to the life and legacy of Dr. King will serve as a special place of reflection and inspiration for all Maine people,” the Rev. Kenneth Lewis, pastor of the Green Memorial AME Zion Church and co-chair of the selection committee, said.

The memorial will be erected on a public plaza on the city’s Bayside Trail between Franklin Street, Marginal Way and Somerset Street. The city has not decided yet whether to make the memorial an official piece of the city’s public art committee collection.

After next week’s meeting, the selection committee will meet Nov. 19 to deliberate further and score the finalists. The selection committee will then make a recommendation to the City Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee, which in turn will make a recommendation to the full City Council.

The Nov. 14th meeting will be live-streamed at the city’s website and on the city’s Facebook page.