Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park reopens Sundays after COVID lull
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park is open again on Sundays.
After years of staggered openings and times, largely brought on by the onset of COVID-19, which saw a decrease in staffing, National Park Service officials said the King District is returning to a seven-days-a-week operation.
Starting this Sunday, the park dedicated to the civil rights leader in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward will be open every day from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
“It feels good to be back,” said park Superintendent Judy Forte. “Just because we were closed, didn’t mean that visitors didn’t come. So they had expectations. I always felt bad when visitors came and we were closed or they couldn’t get into the birth home.”
In 2020, as the pandemic surged, the park shut down all of its inside facilities. As the pandemic waned, hours and tours slowly picked up to the point where they were open six days a week.
Forte said that all regularly scheduled visitor service operations will be open again all days, including interpretive tours of King’s birth home, interpretive and special event programs in the Ebenezer Baptist Church/Heritage sanctuary, the Historic Fire Station No. 6 and the park’s Visitor Center.
Other special events and programming, like walking tours and special observances, will be scheduled and resume on Sundays as well.
“We are at full staff now and we are eager to serve our public,” Forte said.
Forte said that the park has seen a recent increase in its operational budget, which has allowed her to hire more staff, which is also being supplemented by summer interns.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
