Photo by cruffo

Organizers for the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial announced yesterday plans for a much smaller dedication ceremony on October 16. The rescheduled ceremony, nearly two months after the original planned date was postponed due to the still resonating Hurricane Irene, will take place at 9 a.m. to a small group of dignitaries, while the non-ticketed viewing public will be allowed to gather on the adjacent West Potomac Park. Still slated on the guest list will be the Obamas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and King’s family members.

According to WTOP, organizers estimated on a permit application filed earlier this month approximately 50,000 attendees, a far cry from the 250,000 or more expected on the original date. Since the memorial has been open to the public for the past month, many groups who would have visited in August have come and gone, perhaps making the upcoming ceremony a much more intimate affair. “Due to the postponement, we are planning an event much smaller in scale but just as big in spirit,” said Harry E. Johnson Sr., Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc. in a statement.