Michael Jackson Vigil Set for Singer’s Childhood Hometown

Gary, Indiana -- the childhood hometown of Michael Jackson -- will hold a candlelight vigil on Friday, June 25, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the pop legend's death. The event will take place at the small house Jackson grew up in and will be open to the public. "We expect thousands to show up," said city spokeswoman LaLosa Burns. Among the guests scheduled to the attend are Jackson's mother, Katherine, who has custody of the musicians three children and has been raising them in her Southern California home since his passing in 2009.

According to workers at the house, Katherine wanted to home to be cleaned up, for the event. The house has since received an external facelift with the edition of a new roof, a fresh coat of paint, newly poured concrete along the sidewalk and driveway and is now enclosed by a black iron fence. "She wanted all of this done," worker Nathaniel Donald told the Associated Press. "People from all over the world come here and she wanted it fixed up."

Jackson last visited the location in 2003, in preparation for the construction of a Michael Jackson Performing Arts Center that was never built. As previously reported, Jackson's father, Joseph, and city officials are still planning to build the center.

In the days following Jackson's death many fans flocked to the home located at 2300 Jackson Street to pay their respects. Jackson died of cardiac arrest in his Hollywood home back in 2009, he was 50-years-old.