As the memorial construction got underway, the jury suggested modifications to make Perry's original design more open and inviting. These included shortening and some physical piercing of the walls to allow greater visual penetration of the entire structure. Perry worked with Mannheimer and Daniel Edwards, who sculpted and oversaw casting of the figures of King and Kennedy, to fine-tune the design. To relieve the monolithic solidity of the steel walls, the three conceived the idea of openings contoured to suggest shadows cast by the half-figures. After several attempts to shine bright lights on the half-figures to create actual shadows, Mannheimer drew the desired contours in chalk on the steel walls, which were laser cut and smoothed to create the cut-outs. The total cost of creating and installing the memorial, including two markers with bronze plaques, approached $200,000. One of the plaques contains the text of Kennedy's speech, parts of which were later inscribed on his own memorial at Arlington National Cemetery after the senator's assassination later that year. A marker near the actual spot from which Kennedy spoke contains remnants of guns confiscated by the Indianapolis police or collected as part of a city amnesty program created in conjunction with the Indiana Pacers. The contest required the confiscated weapons to be used in the memorial's design.