COVID-19 victims will be honored by buildings across the nation on the eve of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
Structures such as the Empire State Building in New York City will light up at 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday as part of a "national moment of unity," according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) on Monday, per The Hill.
Seattle's Space Needle also is expected to participate, as well as buildings in cities such as Atlanta, Las Vegas and Wilmington, Del., Biden's hometown. Hundreds of towns, cities, tribes, landmarks, and communities across the country were expected to participate.
In late December, the committee announced the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool will be lighted. Biden, incoming first lady Jill Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, will participate in the ceremony at the memorial.
The inauguration "represents the beginning of a new national journey — one that renews its commitment to honor its fallen and rise toward greater heights in their honor," PIC CEO Tony Allen said in a statement.
"In that spirit, it is important that we pay tribute to those we have lost — and their families and come together to unite our country, contain this virus, and rebuild our nation."
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the first Black U.S. Cardinal, will deliver the invocation. Gospel music icon Yolanda Adams will also perform, as will Michigan nurse Lori Marie Key, whose rendition of Amazing Grace during a shift change at a hospital became a viral video early last year.
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