<p>Since the day of her funeral in February, the tomb of Coretta Scott King has remained lengths away from her husband's crypt at The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change _ against her final wish that her body be placed alongside his.</p><p>By the end of this year, the couple who struggled together for civil rights in a segregated South will be united in a single final resting place, said Isaac Newton Farris, the Kings' nephew and president of the King Center.</p><p>"We have decided on the design and placement," Farris told The Associated Press, who added that the new crypt should be complete by Dec. 31. "She will be in place next to my uncle before the holiday," referring to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15.</p><p>Farris said the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s tomb _ which sits atop a reflecting pool in The King Center's courtyard _ had been designed with the thought that Coretta Scott King would eventually be buried there, too. The mound that houses his crypt was made to hold the remains of two people, Farris explained, but the crypt was not.</p><p>Farris said the new crypt will be paid for by family, friends and The King Center. He declined to say how much it will cost.</p><p>Coretta Scott King died Jan. 31 at age 78 from complications from ovarian cancer diagnosed after she had a stroke and mild heart attack. Her tomb, a smaller, gray marble crypt, faces Auburn Avenue, where her husband was born and preached from 1960 until his death, and is surrounded by a small garden. An eternal flame burns nearby.</p><p>Martin Luther King Jr. was originally buried at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta, where his parents and maternal grandparents are also buried, but his crypt was later moved to The King Center.</p><p>His widow started The King Center in the basement of the couple's home in the year following King's 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tenn. In 1981, the center moved into its multimillion-dollar facility on Auburn Avenue and next to King's Ebenezer Baptist Church.</p><p>The King Center is a vault for those seeking the teachings of the leader of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. It draws thousands of visitors each year, many who come to pay their respects to the Kings.</p><p>A 23-member commission formed by the city of Atlanta to establish public tributes to King's widow heard ideas from the public for the first time at a meeting Wednesday night.</p><p>Some people suggested an education fund, a birthday parade and even a park with a towering statue similar to the Statue of Liberty.</p><p>"We need something great that will symbolize her," said Maurice Baker, 37, who said Coretta Scott King could be remembered at the planned Atlanta Symphony Center.</p><p>Honoring her at the symphony center would be better than naming a street for her, Baker said. "Streets can always go through reconstruction, and it could be placed in a bad neighborhood."</p><p>Pat Jones, 57, asked for a yearly church memorial service and a statue in hopes to continue the legacy for those who don't know much about Coretta Scott King's history.</p><p>"All generations can know that Coretta Scott played an important part in where we are at today," she said.</p><p>The commission is currently considering several recommendations, including a rose garden with a water feature; the creation of an Educational Institute for Social Change; the commissioning of a public sculpture; and the renaming of a performing arts school, city park or major city street in her honor.</p><p>"There's a real desire on the part of the commission to do this appropriately and as expeditiously as possible," Farris said. "I feel very good about where it's headed."</p><p>_____</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdec14)</p>
