Statue of Liberty to get new staircase for safety
Source: Agencies |
August 11, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A set of 354 narrow steps spirals all the way up to the Statue of Liberty's crown, and it's the only escape route for tourists in an emergency.
On a recent summer day, one tourist put his hands on his knees and gasped for air as a few others funneled down the tightly twisting staircase to the statue's pedestal. They were covered in sweat.
"It was hot up there," said Lucie Munier, visiting from France. "I think I would be scared in an emergency, but it is already pretty scary even when it is calm."
When a smoke alarm tripped inside the statue last month, hundreds of tourists were rushed down the equivalent of about 15 flights of stairs in a matter of minutes - the same ones that firefighters would need to trudge up if the 125-year-old New York landmark catches fire.
National Park Service officials have closed the statue in recent years for a US$20 million security upgrade, and kept the crown shut since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks until last year to improve its fire safety.
Next year, the statue will close again, for nine months to a year, so workers can build a more up-to-date set of stairwells at Lady Liberty's pedestal, said National Parks Service spokesman Darren Boch.
"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, Boch said.
On Friday, the parks service will release an environmental assessment on the proposed changes and take public comment on the proposed alternatives through September 13.
It is the first of several steps that the park is required to take before making changes of this proposed magnitude, and until the entire planning process is complete, it is not possible to accurately estimate construction costs, Boch said.
Most tourists, 3,000 maximum per day, ascend the first 186 steps from the ground up to the pedestal. No more than 10 people at a time are allowed all the way up to the crown, in part so they can be quickly evacuated if necessary.
The scheduled improvements are expected to enable the park to increase visitation to the crown and improve visitor safety overall.
On a recent summer day, one tourist put his hands on his knees and gasped for air as a few others funneled down the tightly twisting staircase to the statue's pedestal. They were covered in sweat.
"It was hot up there," said Lucie Munier, visiting from France. "I think I would be scared in an emergency, but it is already pretty scary even when it is calm."
When a smoke alarm tripped inside the statue last month, hundreds of tourists were rushed down the equivalent of about 15 flights of stairs in a matter of minutes - the same ones that firefighters would need to trudge up if the 125-year-old New York landmark catches fire.
National Park Service officials have closed the statue in recent years for a US$20 million security upgrade, and kept the crown shut since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks until last year to improve its fire safety.
Next year, the statue will close again, for nine months to a year, so workers can build a more up-to-date set of stairwells at Lady Liberty's pedestal, said National Parks Service spokesman Darren Boch.
"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, Boch said.
On Friday, the parks service will release an environmental assessment on the proposed changes and take public comment on the proposed alternatives through September 13.
It is the first of several steps that the park is required to take before making changes of this proposed magnitude, and until the entire planning process is complete, it is not possible to accurately estimate construction costs, Boch said.
Most tourists, 3,000 maximum per day, ascend the first 186 steps from the ground up to the pedestal. No more than 10 people at a time are allowed all the way up to the crown, in part so they can be quickly evacuated if necessary.
The scheduled improvements are expected to enable the park to increase visitation to the crown and improve visitor safety overall.
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