Lady Liberty Gets a Cleanse

If you were hoping to take a tour of Lady Liberty's innards then you'd better do it fast. The museum inside our Lady's pedestal will close for a year at the end this month.

The Lady Liberty statue at Liberty Island, the city's most iconic landmark, will closing its museum on October 28 for a year. Hundreds of thousands of people who visit the island next year will be disappointed to find the doors at the bottom of the statue locked tight--she is a lady after all.

The statue--a gift from France--was unveiled in 1886 by President Grover Cleavland. Since then she has had more than a few lifts and tucks. In fact, the original torch of the is on display in the entrance of the soon-to-close museum. Museum goers can also stand next to a reconstruction of the Lady's face and foot to find out how big our Lady truly is.

In the coming year the museum is expected to complete a roughly $27 million refurbishment. This overhaul will include an updated of the mechanical and electrical systems, new elevators, and a reconfigured, safer staircase. This newest round of construction will most importantly include an emergency staircase. Currently, way to the statue's crown is a 354-step spiral staircase which is the only means of tourist traffic and emergency response.

The National Parks Service--which is responsible for the construction--says it is doing the best it can while maintaining the historical landmark. "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 current safety standards, National Parks Service spokesman Darren Boch told the AP.

Sorry tourists, it looks like you'll just have to come back next year to get the inside look at Lady Liberty, unless you can beat the rush before October 28.

By McCamey Lynn

photo: the original construction of the Statue of Liberty in 1886