The stuffed animals, removed because of a planned street repaving and for safety reasons, were put into storage by the Urban League. They were replaced in May 2015 with a permanent marker and a bronze dove, installed in a sidewalk along Canfield Drive.

Michael McMillan, CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, said the center’s memorial was designed with input from Brown’s parents and is appropriate for the “ground zero” site, a convenience store burned and looted, then used as a backdrop for protests.

Morial said that while the national conference officially takes place in downtown St. Louis, having the opening ceremony in Ferguson is a necessity. Rather than being known solely as a flashpoint, Ferguson can be cast as a place of rebuilding and providing economic opportunities, especially for African-American men through the Urban League’s “Save Our Sons” job training program. More than 75 percent of the workers and contractors who built the center are African-American.

But, Morial stressed, the conference and its focus on Ferguson also will serve as a reminder that much more work needs to be done here and throughout the country.

“Michael Brown died at the hands of police, and no one was held accountable. We cannot and should not forget,” Morial said.