The restoration of the A.G. Gaston Motel as part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument will be complete in two years, said the architect on the project.

The motel structure is sound, said Jack Pyburn, a preservation architect from Lord Aeck Sargent in Atlanta.

Pyburn took Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on his first tour of the motel, which was built in 1954 by A.G. Gaston, and provided an update on the restoration process on Wednesday morning.

"We have all we need to restore it so that people can appreciate the experience that happened here in 1963 and beyond," Pyburn said.

He said the next step is to start the design work including developing the construction documents and hiring a contractor to do the work.

Pyburn nor city officials had an estimate on when construction could start.

Gaston Motel 14 Gallery: Gaston Motel

The A.G. Gaston Motel served as the epicenter of Birmingham's civil rights protests and demonstrations.

In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed in room 30 of the motel, which served as a "war room" for the Civil Right Movement's top leaders.

President Barack Obama on Jan. 12, 2017 signed a proclamation designating the Birmingham Civil Rights District as a national monument.

The national monument includes portions of the Historic Birmingham Civil Rights District, including the A.G. Gaston Motel, the neighboring Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the 16th Street Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, the Colored Masonic Temple, St. Paul United Methodist Church and portions of the 4th Avenue Business District.

The city of Birmingham allocated $10 million to the restoration of the Gaston Motel in 2015.

"We have a full vested interest in the physical preservation of the A.G Gaston Motel, a historic site that represents so much of the history of our city," Woodfin said.

When asked why the restoration has taken so long, the mayor said there needed to be more coordination on the part of the city. He also said the mayoral election last year caused the motel project to be neglected.

Reggie Tiller, acting superintendent of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and the Freedom Riders National Monument, said the foundation documents for both parks are expected to be complete by mid-summer.

The foundation documents address the core purpose and significance of the parks; their most important resources and values; and the challenges facing the parks. These documents also provide a basis for first steps in prioritizing park planning and data needs that will guide the parks in future management decisions, Tiller said in a previous interview with AL.com.

Visitors to the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument can have their National Park Service passport stamped at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Tilller said the institute could continue to serve as the visitor center for the park even when the A.G. Gaston Motel is open.