It is likely to be a dream delayed. The question is, By how long?

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation had planned to break ground in April on a three-story, $100 million monument to King, situated on four acres along the National Mall's Tidal Basin. More than 20 years in the planning, the memorial was designed to portray King emerging from a mass of granite—a reference to the line "hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope" from his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.

But after two decades of lobbying and fundraising (and five years past Congress' original 2003 deadline), construction has been delayed because the memorial effort is $7 million short. The foundation must also navigate three government agencies that approve everything from the statue's 30-foot height to the location of water fountains and parking lots. Even breaking ground in May "would be beyond miraculous," says National Parks Service spokesman Bill Line. (See what other national monuments have cost.)

One person who is on schedule: sculptor Lei Yixin. He could begin chiseling the slain civil rights leader's likeness into granite this summer. When finished, the statue will be cut into pieces, shipped from China to Washington, and reassembled. Of the $93 million raised so far (from General Motors, Verizon, and others), $78 million will go to design and construction. The rest will pay for administrative costs, with the parks service overseeing future maintenance.

Of course, not a shovelful of dirt can be moved until that last $7 million is in the bank. But foundation president Harry Johnson isn't fazed. As an alumnus of the fraternity that helped persuade Congress to authorize the memorial, Johnson has overcome bigger hurdles. "I'm just optimistic," he says.