Detroit City Council members want to rename Hart Plaza after Martin Luther King Jr.

Renaming Detroit's Hart Plaza is on the table among city lawmakers.

Detroit City Council members initially eyed changing the name to "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza," a move proposed by Councilmember Mary Waters. One of the plaza's "most momentous occasions" included hosting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after the 1963 Freedom Walk, where he delivered the precursor to his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, according to the proposed resolution. But after Tuesday's session, Waters told reporters the proposed resolution has been updated to call for naming it "Hart/King Plaza."

Voting on the proposed change is expected to take place after Labor Day, which is when council members return from their August recess. The resolution is moving to the Neighborhood and Community Services Standing Committee on Thursday for discussion.

Waters said in a statement to the Free Press that the measure came about from conversations she had with constituents in northwest Detroit who were "appalled by the violence" in the city.

"They wanted to see us have a place in Detroit that lived up to Dr. King's mission of nonviolence, of peacefully welcoming all. What better place to embody the spirit of Dr. King than the site where he gave" a version of "his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech?' " Waters said.

Sam Riddle, political director Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network, opposed eliminating Hart's name in council's Tuesday session, calling it an "indictment of the failure to teach history that is so vital to hold this nation together."

More: Detroit City Council members want to rename Hart Plaza after Martin Luther King Jr.

"I personally knew Phil Hart. I personally do feel Hart was a good man. Without Sen. Hart, there would have been no Voting Rights Act of 1965," Riddle said. "There is no American city better than Detroit to have and maintain Hart Plaza as a name."

The city in June also unveiled a statue of King standing at a podium in Hart Plaza. The proposed resolution also calls for declaring the plaza to be a violence-free zone.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact her: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit eyes renaming Hart Plaza to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza