After 14 years in storage, Marina’s Martin Luther King bust will be back on display.

On Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 16, the city of Marina is hosting a celebration of the civil rights leader and what he achieved – and also holding a groundbreaking for the installation of an MLK bust.

Leonard Page, a Marina businessman, donated the bust to the city in 2002 and it was the main piece at the Sculpture Habitat, a six-acre sculpture park at the Marina Airport. It was surrounded by black marble panels with MLK quotations inside a pool where people would throw coins and make wishes. Paige commissioned artist Barrington McClean, the first African American faculty member at Cabrillo College, to create the bust.

In the late 2000s, Marina Coastal Water District officials were removing a large water tower and the sculpture garden was in the way. The garden was removed and the MLK bust was forgotten, placed in a hangar for storage.

The sculpture came back to light after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 and the worldwide movement it sparked against systemic racism and police brutality. The move to get the piece back on display was also a response to the widespread removal of statues that do the opposite and glorify racial injustice including slaveholders and imperialists, such as Cristopher Columbus and Confederate leaders.

After Mayor Bruce Delgado became aware of the bust, he began a push to display it again. In June 2020, Marina City Council approved the city budget, but without funding for relocating the statue. After that, Delgado shared his frustration on social media, and people began to contribute, leading to nearly $20,000 in donations. In total, the project will cost $500,000 (including private funding).

That will cover restoration as well as broader landscaping. During the pandemic, the late Terry Siegrist, Marina’s recreation services director, searched for potential places to display it. The design includes a pathway with lighting under cypress trees outside the Marina library. “The library actually is a perfect place as far as the vibe, because people go to the library to learn and expand their horizons,” Delgado says.

The bust deteriorated after being in the hangar for 13 years. It was restored over the past year by McClean, the same artist who created it in Santa Cruz.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the installation happens on Monday, Jan. 16 at 2pm along with an MLK Day celebration. (see Hot Picks)