Dr. King National Park reopens in downtown Atlanta

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Good news for the thousands expected to descend on Atlanta's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park on Monday. That's because after being closed for weeks, the entire park reopened over the weekend.

The Federal shutdown forced the Visitor Center, Dr. King's birth home, the Heritage Sanctuary where Dr. King preached, and one of the first desegregated firehouses in the South to close. However, late last week Delta announced that it was contributing $83,500 to reopen all four sites. That money, along with recreational fees collected by the National Park Service, will provide enough funding to keep the Park fully functioning until after Super Bowl weekend.

Dr. King's daughter Bernice said she's happy the park has reopened but added the Federal shutdown wouldn't diminish the impact of Monday's commemorations of her father's birth. The family is calling on people to use the MLK holiday as a day of community service.

Stay tuned to Good Day Atlanta for more on this story and make sure watch the Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemorative Service at starting 10:00 A.M. on FOX5.