Granite blocks arrive for MLK memorial

BALTIMORE, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The 159 granite blocks that will make up Washington's memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are finally on U.S. soil, officials of the King project said.

The pre-carved pieces, designed and fabricated by a master sculptor in China, have been placed in temporary storage following a 47-day ocean voyage from China to Baltimore, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Officials of the King project were on hand as the crated blocks were unloaded from the BBC France.

Once assembled, the centerpiece of the memorial will be a 30-foot 8-inch sculpture of the slain civil rights leader in a business suit with his arms folded.

The statue of King will be bigger than the statues of Presidents Jefferson and Lincoln at their Washington memorials.

Construction crews are scheduled to start assembling the King memorial this fall at a 4-acre site off Independence Avenue.

The King memorial was authorized by Congress in 1996.