May Never Be Full Again
USA Today Feature Presentation on the Statue of Liberty
6 February 2004
Report by Rick Hampson, USA TODAY
USA Today reports that visitors have not climbed the stairs in more than two years, and they may never climb them again. The Statue has been closed since 11 September 2001 when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists, the longest closure in its history, exceeding the period of closure for the two-year restoration in 1986.
About $5 million is being raised privately for work. The National Park Service says the monument's pedestal, including the musuem, will probably reopen to the public later this year. But the crown might not reopen at all.
The New York Daily News is indignant over the closing: "Keep the people out and you will turn the statue into an international symbol of craven fear," . Otherwise, the newspaper says, the statue will have been "ceded to al-Qaeda." "The feds may be frightened, but the public most certainly is not." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that as long as the statue is closed, "in some sense, the terrorists have won."
Liberty Island reopened to the public December 20, 2001 after the September 11 terror attacks. Visits to the island are down by 40%, certainly because people want to go inside the statue and up to the crown. The Statue of Liberty is the only major national landmark not to reopen after 9/11.
Since opening in 1886, the climb up the statue has always been a sensation. Tourists could take the 25-cent ferry ride, then climb up to the crown's cramped interior observation platform, which has 25 windows, and even to the torch's small, wind-blown balcony.
The statue was the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere until the turn of the century and offered the city's finest views. Visitors also could see the statue's intricate internal skeleton, devised by French engineer Gustave Eiffel to support the 151-foot high, 225-ton goddess. The torch was closed in 1916 due to safety concerns.
Mayor Bloomberg had asked the Park Service to open the crown "as soon as it possibly can." But in May 2002, U.S. intelligence indicated the possibility of an attack on Liberty and other New York landmarks. In a report issued in September 2003, Interior Department investigators said that "icon" national parks were "woefully unprotected" against terror attacks.
Last November, the Statue of Liberty Foundation announced plans to raise $5 million for safety improvements, including new exits, that would allow the pedestal to reopen. But the crown remains closed indefinitely due to safety concerns.
