Cincinnati will unveil a new Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial this Saturday at the corner of Reading Road and MLK Drive in Avondale, closing out a nine-year gap left after the city's original 1987 tribute was removed for highway construction. The free community celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 3100 Reading Road and will include live music, food, games, a bounce house, and local vendor booths alongside the formal unveiling.
The centerpiece of the new memorial is a six-and-a-half-foot bronze statue of Dr. King standing at his pulpit, created by artist Stephen Hayes and designed by Houston-based firm RE:site, according to WVXU. The statue is officially titled The Light of Hope and is surrounded by six stained glass panels representing Dr. King's six principles of nonviolence. One panel is dedicated specifically to local Cincinnati civil rights leaders, including Rev. L.V. Booth, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, and Rev. Damon Lynch Jr., a detail Assistant to the City Manager Javarious Jackson highlighted as tying King's national philosophy directly to Cincinnati's own history.
Saturday's unveiling ceremony is scheduled to feature remarks from Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, City Manager Sheryl Long, and Jackson before the celebration opens up to music, food, and children's activities, per the same report. The event, first detailed in a Center for Closing the Health Gap post promoting the day, welcomes everyone and promotes unity, service, and celebration. Sponsors listed for the celebration include Metro, First Financial Bank, Miami University, Legends Global, Levy Convention Centers, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Lambda Chapter, Baptist Ministries, Prestige AV & Creative Services, and Megen.
Nine Years Without a Monument at This Corner
The intersection has deep roots in the neighborhood's civic memory. The original memorial was dedicated in 1987 at Reading Road and MLK Drive through a partnership between the Baptist Ministers Conference of Cincinnati, the City of Cincinnati, and Jewish Hospital, according to a City of Cincinnati memo. That tribute was removed in 2017 and relocated to MLK Park in North Avondale when major highway construction reshaped the Martin Luther King Drive and Interstate 71 interchange, leaving the Reading Road corner without a memorial for years.
The city moved to restore a permanent tribute when Cincinnati City Council allocated $1 million in May 2021 to fund the design, fabrication, and installation of a new memorial at the site, the same city memo shows. That funding followed a competitive request for qualifications the city launched in August 2021 to select a design team for the project.
Community Pushback Reshaped the Design
The path to Saturday's unveiling was not smooth. In August 2022, interim City Manager John Curp canceled initial contract negotiations after extensive community feedback demanded broader public input into the memorial's design, WVXU reported in its coverage of the delay at the time. The reset pushed the project's timeline back but ultimately produced a more community-centered final design.
Part of that community-centered approach came through direct public participation in the archive tied to the memorial. In April 2025, the City of Cincinnati partnered with the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library for a City-Wide Photo Scanning Day at the Holloman Center for Social Justice, inviting residents to submit personal photos and historical documents for inclusion in the memorial's archive, according to the city's announcement.
Groundbreaking for the memorial took place on August 14, 2025, drawing an appearance from Dr. Bernice King, CEO of The King Center and Dr. King's daughter, alongside Mayor Pureval, as reported by Black Enterprise. That groundbreaking coincided with the 37th annual Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion, according to coverage from WLWT.
Getting to the Unveiling
City organizers have set up free public event parking in a designated lot across from the memorial site, accessible via Martin Luther King Drive and Harvey Avenue, with shuttle transportation running to the memorial for the celebration, according to the City of Cincinnati's event logistics posted ahead of Saturday. Attendees heading to Reading Road should expect added foot and shuttle traffic around the site throughout the four-hour event.
