Plan to Pay Off King Papers Up for Council Vote

ATLANTA (AP) -- City leaders could clear the way for Atlanta's planned civil and human rights museum to pay $11.5 million left on a loan so they can acquire the display rights to 10,000 documents belonging to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In the down economy, private fundraising has stalled to pay off the original $32 million loan made in 2006 to buy the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

Under a proposal scheduled for consideration by the Atlanta City Council on Monday, The Center for Civil and Human Rights will dip into its coffers to pay the balance on the Morehouse King Collection. Last year, the city granted $40 million in bonds to the museum to help build the project, and the loan payment would come from those funds.

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