George Gardner's St. Augustine Report: Young memorial can kick off national civil rights museum fundraising effort

Young memorial can kick off national civil rights museum fundraising effort

Dedication of a planned "Andrew Young Crossing" memorial along 20 feet of walkway into the Plaza de la Constitucion "can be a national event, a major promotion of St. Augustine for the 2014 (Civil Rights) commemoration and kick-off to fundraising for a Civil Rights museum here," City Manager John Regan said Monday as city commissioners approved a design for the project.

Planning included a visit to Atlanta by Regan, City Commissioner Errol Jones, and memorial designer Jeremy Marquis, where the 1960s civil rights leader and former ambassador walked across a sheet of paper in inked shoes to create impressions for footsteps in the memorial.

Commissioners two weeks ago approved up to $10,000 for the memorial, which Jones noted "is not memorializing Young, but rather the event." Previously approved was designation of the King and St. George streets intersection as "Andrew Young Crossing," where Young was beaten while marching with civil rights demonstrators in June 1964.