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Ali Center Planned in Louisville LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)--The design for the proposed Muhammad Ali Center includes towering images of the boxing great and an enormous metallic "torch" to symbolize his life and humanitarian ideals. Plans for the $41 million center were made public Thursday. The six-story center is to have 93,000 square feet of exhibit space, galleries, classrooms, a library, theater and cafe. Surrounding it will be a plaza with an amphitheater. Ali proclaimed, "I'm here", as he entered the news conference at City Hall. But he sat quietly as his wife, Lonnie, and other organizers spoke. Lonnie Ali said the center will embody her husband's dream of creating "a place that inspires adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be." "This is his legacy and our dream and your opportunity", she said. Michael Fox, the center's president and chief executive officer, said organizers had raised $33 million and would reach a $41 million goal within a year. Construction is to start next spring, with the opening in mid-2004. Organizers earlier scaled down the project by nearly $20 million. The plaza is being developed by the city. The center will be built in downtown Louisville, near the Ohio River, and will be visible from Interstate 64. Images of Ali will be emblazoned on the exterior through graphics, projections, screening and lighting. Rising out of the building will be the three-story torch, which will be illuminated at night and inscribed with statements and images of Ali. Fox said the torch is to recall two of Ali's Olympic triumphs - winning a gold medal at the Rome games in 1960 and, decades later, lighting the torch to open the Atlanta games despite being stricken by Parkinson's disease. Copyright 2002, The Associated Press. http://www.austin360.com/aas/life/ap/ap_story.html/Entertainment/AP.V6708.AP -Muhammad-Ali.html janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit perky, parky pd: 55/41/37 cd: 55/44/43 tel: 613 256 8340 email: [log in to unmask] smail: 375 Country Street, Almonte, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1A0 a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn