Statue of Liberty closed for renovation after 125th anniversary

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced on Wednesday (10) that the Statue of Liberty will be closed for the period of one year in order to manage the necessary renovation in its interior. It was stated that the Statue is in need of the renovation as a measure to increase security and accessibility demands specified by the National Park Service, institution responsible for the management of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island.

Necessary Renovation

In order to allow celebrations of the 125th anniversary of the Statue’s inauguration, the date set for the closing of the monument is on October 29. The 28th is when the Statue completes its anniversary, so US government authorities were dedicated in avoiding the closure before that date. Even though the crown, the stairways, and other features will be closed, visits are still allowed.

According to Tegan Firth, a spokeswoman for Statue Cruises, “the entire experience of visiting these national landmarks of the United States remains absolutely the same.” Also, Firth says that an average Saturday has about 18,000 people on ferries during the summer to visit the Statue of Liberty.

Investing On Safety

Before the announcement that the Statue would be closed for visits in its interior and at the crown, the monument had already been restricted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to the minister Salazar, “two years ago, when we reopened Lady Liberty’s crown to visitors for the first time since the September 11 attacks, I promised that we would continue to upgrade the interior to make it safer and more accessible for all.”

The security measures are evaluated according to how long it takes in order to all visitors manage to leave the building. As the elevators, stairways, electrical system, and other technical details, are not as the safety procedures request them to be, the renovation is necessary to guarantee tourists’ well being.