Vicksburg’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Kuhn Civil Rights Memorial Park Committee is seeking open nominations for local residents who were trailblazers in the civil rights movement in Vicksburg to be honored in the park.

The Civil Rights Park is being built on the site of the former Kuhn Memorial Hospital on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. proposed the park on Nov. 25, 2019, at a meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen after the board rejected two proposals for a multi-use residential/commercial and recreation development on the property.

He said the park would have a walking trail and highlight the importance of Kuhn Memorial Hospital to the community with monuments to the hospital and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and displays showing the contributions of area residents, churches and organizations to the civil rights movement.

Flaggs later appointed a seven-member committee to oversee the park’s design.

The committee on Tuesday mailed a letter to residents announcing that the park’s first phase is nearing completion and the committee is seeking nominations for people to be honored in the park.

Nominations can be submitted for individuals, groups, organizations, churches and schools, and there is no limit to the number of submissions. Nominations will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. on March 20, 2022.

Nominations can be submitted through the following link: https://forms.gle/h3ivQYDNtDNz4ktq6 and hard copies of the form are available upon request.

Anyone with questions or seeking further information can contact the committee at parkcommittee2020@gmail.com.