King Center faces an uncertain future

ATLANTA, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The children of Martin Luther King are feuding over the proposed sale of the King Center in Atlanta to the National Parks Service.

The center, originally called the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change, needs $11 million in repairs, the National Parks Service says. The building and King's grave are in the midst of the King Historic District, which includes the civil rights leader's birthplace.

"The center really had the potential to be a non-violent change agent," Mtamanika Youngblood told the New York Times. "That opportunity is gone."

Youngblood recently resigned as head of a community development organization in the neighborhood.

Dexter King, one of King's two sons, proposed selling the center.

In addition to other problems, a federal investigation is trying to determine if Dexter King and his brother, Martin, received improper payments from taxpayer funds.

This year, the center plays only a minor role in events to honor King's birthday. King, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.