MLK Memorial Design 'The Embrace' Gets Final Approval, Coming To Boston Common Next Fall

BOSTON (CBS) -- A memorial honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King has received final approval. The Boston Landmarks Commission on Tuesday voted to OK the privately-funded "Embrace" memorial that is scheduled to open on Boston Common in October of 2022.

King Boston, which is coordinating the project, said it was fitting that "the approval of this symbol to racial equality and harmony took place on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death."

The 22-foot sculpture featuring interlocking bronze arms is near the Parkman Bandstand, where Dr. King led a rally and spoke in 1965, and "invites visitors to gather and enter into the Kings' embrace."

The memorial also celebrates King's connection to the area. Years before his iconic 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Boston was home to a young Martin Luther King Jr. He lived on Mass. Ave and studied at Boston University. It was there where he would earn a PhD in systematic theology and become Dr. King. Boston is also where he met Coretta Scott.

"This has been a long journey, but an incredibly satisfying and worthwhile one," said Paul English, founder of King Boston, in a statement. "We couldn't be happier with the support we've received from the City of Boston, from its corporate citizens, and from the community at large. They all realize the moment in time we are in, and why it's so important that 'The Embrace' serve as one of the city's new symbols of racial equity and social justice."