Should the Statue of Liberty be reopened to the public?

I would really like to hear your opinions on this one. Since 9/11, the Statue of Liberty has been off limits to the public; not because of the concerns over a possible terrorist attack on the iconic landmark, but because of safety concerns. Is this safety concern an excuse, or has the tradition of climbing up the narrow steps to the crown officially come to an end?

For those of you who have never been inside the Statue, it isn’t a very comfortable climb. Inside the metal structure, you will find 160 steps waiting for you, primarily in a tight spiral that rises up the center of the internal support structure of the Statue. During the summer months, this metal structure becomes an oven, and when you combine that heat with the humidity coming from the New York Harbor, you create the perfect conditions to induce heat exhaustion. When you combine the tight spiral staircase with tourists suffering heat exhaustion in the crown, you create a difficult situation for medical personnel and the National Parks Service. Trying to get the crew up the staircase in a quick enough pace to provide aid, with tourists blocking passage on their way up, in a serious problem.

Unlike the Washington Monument, you are not able to install an elevator within the Statue of Liberty. The staircase, originally designed and intended for maintenance workers rather than tourists, is an integral part of the support structure. Removing the staircase or moving framing members to install a small elevator will compromise the integrity of the structure that has stood for over a century.

With all of these logistical issues, thousands of tourists would visit the crown on a weekly basis before 9/11. Many politicians have questioned why, if it was ok for the tourists to visit the crown before 9/11, why are they banned now? While the medical excuse does make sense (and should have been the cause to close off the Statue to tourists a long time ago), the concern that terrorists might choose to set off an explosive within the iconic structure is also valid in the modern era. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol known around the world for freedom and security. Even the protesters in China’s Tiananmen Square erected their own version of the Statue named “The Goddess of Democracy” back in 1989. Having our Statue defaced or destroyed would be a symbolic act that the terrorists and enemies of the United States would celebrate and use to their advantage in their propaganda campaign.

So I ask you: Should the Statue of Liberty be reopened to the public?

Related artciles:
Scripps News – “Editorial: A crowning achievement”
News Chief – “Open Miss Liberty to the public again”
The Washington Post – “New Administration Inspires Hope for Full Access to Statue”
Just Above Sunset – “The Pesky Question of Just Who Decides What”

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