March 25, 2009
Statue of Liberty crown may open by July 4 - Reuters
Update: It’s official: Statue of Liberty crown will reopen July 4, 2009
Although a long-awaited safety report is not yet complete, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said “we will endeavor to do everything we can” to reopen the Statue of Liberty’s crown by the Fourth of July, Reuters is reporting.
The double-helix staircase leading to the top of the statue has long posed a safety risk as there is no good way to build an emergency exit, the National Parks Service has said.
“We may have it opened up to a smaller group of people,” Salazar told Reuters.
The safety report is expected by April 15.
All of Liberty Island was closed to the public starting Sept. 11, 2001. Months after the attacks, the grounds of the island reopened. In August 2004, the NPS reopened the museum inside the pedestal, and allowed access to the observation decks around the pedestal. On the inside, visitors can get no higher than a viewing gallery just below Lady Liberty’s toes, with a view through Plexiglass looking straight up at the double-helix staircase. Even now, only a limited number of visitors are allowed into the museum and pedestal. (When buying tickets, visitors must request a free monument pass before the day’s allotment runs out.)
There has been no talk of reopening access to the higher torch, which has been closed to public since 1916, shortly after a massive explosion at nearby Black Tom’s, which was widely assumed to have been the work of German saboteurs.
Tourism to the Statue dropped off sharply after the terror attacks, but Reuters reports the numbers are rising. The island hosted 3.6 million visitors in 2000; 3.2 million visited in 2007.
Earlier: Statue of Liberty crown may reopen on limited basis
Statue of Liberty’s crown may re-open under Obama
NewYorkology Basics: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
March 25, 2009 7:13 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Kids, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Sightsology, Tours
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