Repairing the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor will be closed for repairs for a year beginning on October 28, 2011, the 125th anniversary of the monument’s dedication. The $27.25-million renovation will make the interior safer and more accessible, says United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The project will include installing improved stairways and upgrading electrical and fire-safety systems, elevators, and bathrooms. Liberty Island, on which the statue stands, will remain open, as will the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. About 3.5 million people visit the Statue of Liberty each year.
Statue of Liberty
The statue’s complete name is Liberty Enlightening the World. It was given to the people of the United States by the people of France in 1884 as an expression of friendship and of the ideal of liberty shared by both peoples. French citizens donated the money to build the statue, and people in the United States raised the funds to construct the foundation and the pedestal (base). The French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue and chose its site. Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer who later built the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, designed the iron framework that supports the statue’s copper covering. Construction began in 1884 and was completed in April 1886.
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