The Statue of Liberty in New York will close for a year from October 28 to undergo a 27.25 million dollar renovation, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has said.
The National Parks Service, which oversees the monument, said it would close monument after the celebration of 125th anniversary of its dedication.
The renovation will only take place in the monument. Liberty Island will remain open, the Washington Post reports.
According to the latest fire codes, escape routes should allow the statue to be evacuated within two hours.
However, staircases on either side of the statue’s pedestal do not meet current safety standards.
New Jersey’s Joseph Construction Corporation of Pine Brook will install ‘code-complaint’ stairways in the monument and upgrade its electrical and fire suppression systems, elevators and bathrooms.
The renovation is expected to make its interiors safer and more accessible,
The statue was closed after the September 11 terror attacks for undergoing security renovations, but the base reopened in 2004 after a 20 million-dollar security upgrade.
The observation deck at the top of the crown was reopened on July 4, 2009.
Built in the 1880s, the statue was a gift from France.