(Gabriella Bass)
Her beauty isn’t only skin deep.
After a yearlong, $30 million interior makeover, Lady Liberty is ready for her closeup as she reopens to the public today.
The mostly federally funded renovation to the 126-year-old Statue of Liberty includes fire-safety and ventilation improvements, better bathrooms, a third elevator and a remodeled staircase with 39 extra steps to make it easier to climb from pedestal to crown.
And, for the first time ever, there is wheelchair access to the top of the pedestal.
With the structural improvements, 26,000 more visitors will be able to visit the crown every year. Previously, only 240 people per day could visit; now 315 can.
“All that makes me confident I can bring my grandparents,” said Jean-Pascal Mill, 38, a tourist from Lyon, France, who visited Liberty Island yesterday. “Accessibility makes a big difference.”
Keith Lan, 38, of Los Angeles, who was with fiancée Masako Oishi, 30, recalled his arduous first visit.
“It’s hard to get up there. Even the walk up there was pretty tedious,” he said. “It was hot. So if all these renovations improve that, it would be great.”
Helen Lohr, 37, of Orlando, Fla., was delighted to see “the symbol of America” get a makeover.
“That’s part of our face,” she said. “I think it’s important to spend some money.”
About 600 workers and 60 tons of concrete and materials were ferried to the island for the renovation.
The 354-step pedestal staircase was redone to include 393 smaller steps. Two new elevators replaced the old ones, and a third emergency elevator was installed.
People in wheelchairs can now reach the top of the pedestal’s observation deck at 110 feet, 95 feet higher than before, when wheelchairs couldn’t go past ground level.
On summer days, when the interior of the statue is 20 degrees hotter than outside, a new HVAC system will keep Lady Liberty cooler. In winter, she’ll be warmer.
New fire alarms, sprinkler systems, strobes and a public address system are up to code.
Lady Liberty’s torch, however, will remain closed, as it has been since 1916.
The statue will open today, said superintendent David Luchsinger, but officials say it and Ellis Island could be closed tomorrow and Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy.
“She’s been here for 126 years. She’ll be here after this one,” Luchsinger said.