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The monument to pop icon Michael Jackson, to be unveiled today in Gary, Ind., was produced in Richmond in a whirlwind 48-hour effort of creativity, coordination and synchronicity.
Senthil Muruganantham, CEO of Stone Plans in Richmond, was struck with an idea for a monument while watching Tuesday's television coverage of the funeral and tribute to Jackson in Los Angeles.
He stayed up through the night designing a monument and then contacted Gary officials Wednesday.
He pitched it, they loved it and he produced it.
It will be shipped to Gary today and unveiled during tonight's memorial service in The King of Pop's hometown. Mayor Rudy Clay will officiate joined by Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, former Miss Indiana Kellee Patterson, singer Deniece Williams and actor Fred "The Hammer" Williamson.
"We were watching the memorial service and we had an idea for a tribute to Michael Jackson," Muruganantham said. "I started working on it and spent the whole night designing it.
"Obviously, it struck us that it would be such a tribute and honor to do a monument for Michael Jackson," he said.
In turn, the monument is striking.
On the front, Michael Jackson is in silhouette in a classic dance pose against the backdrop of a full moon. "Never can say good bye," the title of one of his hits, is emblazoned below.
On the back, a collage of pictures of Jackson from the many stages of his career rings Jackson's visage, created from lyrics from "Gone Too Soon," the song Jackson wrote for Ryan White, the Kokomo teen who died of AIDS in 1990.
Titles to several Jackson hits follow below.
"Who is not a fan of his music?" Muruganantham said. "I listened to his music growing up in India. Anybody who sees this can relate to Michael Jackson and his music."
Muruganantham's company is unique in that it could produce such a tribute in such a short period of time. His granite comes from a quarry his family owns in India. He had the 8-foot tall, 5-foot wide, 5,000-pound block in his 65,000-square-foot warehouse, which is located on a dusty side street on the city's northwest side.
Muruganantham designs many of the monuments, markers, mausoleums, civic memorial and name signs his company produces.
He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in architecture from Ohio State University.
"We did all the work in our house," said Dan Tate, a company manufacturers' representative. "'We're one of the few companies in the nation that could have done something like this. Usually it takes several months when you're dealing with second, third and fourth parties."
The polished black granite monument was designed on a computer and laser-etched over 24 hours. It was completed around 10 p.m. Thursday.
"The design process was kind of chaotic but when I finished it felt right," Muruganantham said. "When I sent it (Gary officials) fell in love with it. I think it was what they had in mind.
"Obviously we are proud. It's amazing to be a part of Michael Jackson's legacy," he said. "But part of it was being there at the right place at the right time. Sometimes it's meant to happen and it does."
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