Millions for security needed to reopen Statue of Liberty

NEW YORK - A nonprofit group is looking for private donations to fund security improvements needed to reopen the Statue of Liberty, off-limits to the public since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The federal government already has spent millions of dollars on upgrades, but about $5-million worth of security measures still are needed before visitors can go inside the 151-foot-high statue, National Park Service spokesman Brian Feeney said.

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which oversaw the statue's restoration in the 1980s, offered to help raise the funds, Feeney said.

The Statue of Liberty National Monument, a 58-acre island in New York Harbor, was closed to the public immediately after the attacks. Threats to destroy the statue prompted increased government boat and air patrols.

The island was reopened in December 2001, after airport-type metal detectors were installed to screen visitors before they board the ferry for the island from lower Manhattan.

Tourists still can't climb the statue, and the number of visitors to the monument has dropped by about half to about 2.5-million a year.

Planned upgrades include fire and emergency notification systems and more exits from the monument.

Coffee industry giant Folgers has pledged some of the first dollars for the fundraising campaign, launched in September.

Folgers last month began running ads offering to contribute $1 for every seal customers mail in from its new red plastic coffee canisters. At least 2-million canisters are now in circulation.

Foundation spokeswoman Peg Zitko said another major company will join the fundraising effort for Lady Liberty. She said it's too early to say how much money has been raised by the "Re-Open Lady Liberty" campaign.

No timetable is in place for reopening the statue, Feeney said.

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