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Plans being finalized for citywide Marion Barry tribute Plans being finalized for citywide Marion Barry tribute
(about 4 hours later)
The death of D.C.’s most famous politician sent District officials scrambling Sunday morning to organize memorials to Marion Barry Jr. The death of D.C.’s most famous politician sent District officials scrambling Sunday to organize memorials to Marion Barry Jr.
D.C. flags were lowered to half-staff and officials in Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s office said they were finalizing paperwork to request that U.S. flags in the District also be lowered to half-staff. D.C. flags were lowered to half-staff Sunday morning, as officials in Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s office said they were finalizing paperwork to request that U.S. flags in the District also be lowered to half-staff.
One official who spoke on condition of anonymity because plans were not yet complete said it appeared clear that a citywide memorial service would be held. Gray pledged “public efforts to mark the life of this iconic figure” in an afternoon interview. He said that pre-arranged plans for Barry’s death were scant and that much would depend on Barry’s wishes as expressed through his family and friends.
Multiple people close to Barry on Sunday morning were discussing the possibility of using the Verizon Center as a venue for that memorial service. “You probably would look at it and say you should [have made plans], but who in the hell wants to plan for that?” Gray said. “There’s nothing exciting about trying to accept the inevitability of what we know is inevitable.”
The official also said the mayor’s office was planning for Barry’s body to lie in state at the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. An administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because plans were not yet complete said it appeared clear that a citywide memorial service would be held.
Gray said the Thanksgiving holiday could mean it could be a week or more before any such event is held.
“It would not surprise me if it was not the week after; that would make more sense to me,” he said. “We want everybody who wants to participate to have an opportunity be able to do that.”
Multiple people close to Barry on Sunday morning were discussing the possibility of using the Verizon Center as a venue for that memorial service. An official familiar with the planning said the Walter E. Washington Convention Center also is a possibility; the city chose that space for a public service for musician Chuck Brown in 2012.
Gray said he expected Barry’s body to lie in state at the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, saying “thousands” would visit.
Dates and times for those events were not yet immediately clear.Dates and times for those events were not yet immediately clear.
Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.