Statue of Liberty to Close Again Next Year
Travel News — By Carlo Alcos on August 30, 2010 at 10:20 amAfter being closed for 8 years after 9/11, the Statue of Liberty’s crown was reopened last year. Now, one of the world’s most famous landmarks is looking at the prospect of closing again for nine months to a year, beginning in October of 2011
Given its age and the fact that it is a historic structure and there’s not much we can do to change it, it’s just not going to be 100 percent in line with the most up-to-date safety standards [...]
What National Park Service spokesman Darren Boch was talking about according to the New Zealand Herald is the fact that there is only one set of stairs that lead to the crown, and one leading down. According to the current fire codes, two separate ways down and air conditioning in at least one of the stairwells is required. Besides the one set of steps leading up, there is also an elevator for those unable or unwilling to climb the stairs. In the event of an emergency, fire fighters would not be using the elevator.
The updates will make visits to the crown much more comfortable. On hot days it can get very uncomfortable. “It was hot up there,” said a sweaty Lucie Munier, a tourist from France. Last month a smoke alarm went off, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of tourists. The stairs they used to descend would be the same stairs that fire fighters would have to use to go back up, and at less than 20 inches wide there isn’t a lot of room to squeeze by.
Want to get up there before it closes? Act quickly: Lady Liberty is already fully booked through November.
[Image: Carlo Alcos]
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