Lady Liberty Reopens on the Fourth of July
Friday, July 5th, 2013July 5, 2013
Tourists from across the United States and from around the world flocked to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on July 4 for the monument’s official reopening, eight months after Superstorm Sandy damaged the island on which the statue stands. The storm surge from Sandy that hit New York City on October 28, 2012, flooded about 75 percent of Liberty Island, seriously damaging the island’s infrastructure, including walkways, docks, electrical systems, and sewage pumps. Thanks to its iron framework, the statue itself was undamaged by the superstorm’s ferocious winds. Unfortunately, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum was completely flooded during the storm and remains closed for repairs.
The ceremonies yesterday marked the second official reopening of the statue in less than one year. Just one day before Sandy hit, the United States Department of the Interior had unveiled a yearlong, $27.25-million renovation of the statue and Liberty Island. The renovations included improving stairways and upgrading electrical and fire-safety systems, elevators, and bathrooms. A new elevator allowed visitors with mobility challenges to ride to an observation deck at the top of the statue’s pedestal (base), higher than ever before, and to view the interior features of the statue. In addition, visitors were once again able to climb all the way from Lady Liberty’s feet to her head to view the harbor and surrounding area from the crown. The crown was closed in 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Sandy forced the closing of the monument again on October 29, 2012.
The Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and a beacon of freedom for immigrants, stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1884 as an expression of friendship. The monument rises above star-shaped Fort Wood, built during the early 1800's. ((c) George Goodwin, Monkmeyer)
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. 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 was completed in April 1886. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
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