News

Dominion Construction Refurbishes The King Center Reflecting Pool along with a team of corporate volunteers headed up by The Home Depot

ATLANTA—Dominion Construction—a full-service construction, logistics, development and management firm —convened today at The King Center to refurbish the Reflecting Pool, which holds the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, The King Center Founder. The kick-off of the painting of the pool was done on what would have been the couple’s 56th wedding anniversary. How fitting to have this project done on such a momentous day. The pool was last refurbished in 1996 and the current double crypt, which resides in the reflecting pool, was built in November of 2006, following Mrs. King’s passing earlier that year. The pool and final resting place of the Dr. & Mrs. King has served as a memorial to their wonderful legacy and is visited by over 1,000,000 tourists per year.

Dominion Construction was joined by a team of corporate volunteers headed up by The Home Depot who helped to repair, prime and paint the interior and exterior of the Reflecting Pool that holds the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King.

The 40 corporate volunteers’ work caps off 2 weeks of refurbishing that began on the pool June 1 by Dominion Construction. As its corporate citizenship project, Dominion repaired visible structural leaks and re-coated the internal portion of the pool and the surrounding retaining wall.

The Home Depot, Sears Pool Management Consultants and BEHR joined in the project as sponsors providing paint, painting supplies and professional services.

The Reflecting Pool caught the eyes of Dominion’s founders during a family visit this year to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday—the annual “Day of Service.”

As founders Jeffery Greene and Tobars Dobbs stood at the pool reflecting on the life of one of America’s most extraordinary leaders, they observed the need for the repairs as their conversation evolved into how they could repair it. “We agreed that refurbishing the pool was something we really wanted to do,” said Greene. “Looking at that pool and thinking about our resources and Dominion’s commitment to being a good corporate citizen and building a better world, our thoughts were this is how we can be of service.”

After sharing the volunteer project with their mentor, Michael Russell, CEO of H.J. Russell & Company, referred the two business owners to King Center officials to share how they wanted to refurbish the Reflecting Pool. It is such an important symbol that draws tourists from around the world.

“We are so grateful for the extraordinary generosity of Tobars Dobbs and Jeffery Greene and their company, Dominion Construction in taking a leadership role in refurbishing the King Center’s Reflecting Pool,” said Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., President & CEO of The King Center and Dr. King’s nephew. “We also thank the Home Depot volunteers, Sears Pool Management Consultants, BEHR, and Chic-fil-a for their generous support of this project. As a result of their dedicated efforts, the crypt of my uncle, Martin Luther King, Jr. and my aunt, Coretta Scott King – a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the world – will now be in the best possible condition. This project provides a superb example of corporate social responsibility at its finest.”

The reflecting pool was built in1982 and was the first portion of The King Center campus to be completed. H.J. Russell & Company, the nation’s largest African American-owned construction company that is headquartered in Atlanta, along with its joint venture partner—Holder Construction—was involved with the building of The King Center. Russell is a mentor of Dominion Construction.

“When I learned that our mentor was involved with building the Reflecting Pool and later The King Center, it gave this project even greater meaning to me professionally and personally,” said Dobbs who is a graduate of Dr. King’s alma mater, Morehouse College. “Dominion is following in the footsteps of its mentor.”

Greene adds that the project received overwhelming support from The Home Depot. As the project’s major sponsor, the home improvement retailer provided the paint, painting and repair supplies for the volunteers to repair and paint the internal portion of the pool.

“The Home Depot has long been committed to the Atlanta community,” said Eric Quarles, store manager of The Home Depot’s Riverdale location. “Our volunteers are excited to be a part of this project.”

Sears Pool Management Consultants provided professional services that were crucial to evaluating the condition of the pool and repairs required, BEHR donated the paint for the pool’s exterior retaining wall, and Chick-fil-a donated lunch for the volunteers.
Dominion Development & Associates, Inc., an Atlanta based company, is a dynamic and innovative full-service construction, logistics, development and management firm that supports both government and commercial clients with an advanced wide range of support services and management tools. For more information, please visit www.dominiondevelopment.us.

The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,238 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and China. In fiscal 2008, The Home Depot had sales of $71.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $2.3 billion. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index. For more information, please visit www.homedepot.com

MEDIA CONTACTS:

The King Center; Steve Klein, 404-526-8944 or sklein@thekingcenter.org

Dominion Construction; Monique L. Wilson, 404-421-1631 or mwilson@dominiondevelopment.us

The Home Depot; Craig Fishel, 770-384-2512 or craig_fishel@homedepot.com