A new museum about the life and times of The Statue of Liberty has opened this week. The star of the show is her original torch.
The torch is now on display in a glass walled room which looks out towards Lady Liberty. It was held by the statue for 100 years before it was damaged during WW1 by an explosion set off my German spies.
In 1985 it was replaced with today’s gold-plated torch.
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The museum has been under construction for three years and took $100 million in crowd-funding to make a reality.
Besides the original torch, the displays allow visitors to get up close and person with the statue even if they cannot afford the ticket to step into the viewpoint housed in her crown.
Guests enter through a multimedia corridor which takes them on a virtual trip through the statue’s life starting way back in 1886 when it was unveiled.
The display halls are filled with interactive exhibits such as a model studio of the original sculptor, a copper model of the statue’s face and a virtual collage which displays ideas about freedom and liberty from museum guests.
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‘While the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons in the world, few people ever get to climb to its crown or get to see Lady Liberty’s face up close,’ said Edwin Schlossberg, the founder and principal designer of ESI Design who helped to design the museum.
‘Our goal for the design of the museum experience is to immerse visitors in not just the grandeur and sweeping history of the statue but also the very idea of liberty itself. We want them to leave with a deeper understanding of what liberty means to them and the active role required to uphold it.’
If you can’t visit the statue or museum yourself, not to worry. You can download the free iOS app, Statue of Liberty, that uses augmented reality.
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Though the app, you can see a time-lapse view from Lady Liberty’s eyes, explore the inside structure of the statue, flip through archived photos and see how the statue’s colour changed over time. It also has a 3D model of the statue.
Access to the museam is included in the ferry ticket from Battery Park in Manhattan to Liberty and Ellis Islands.
Feature image: Statue of Liberty National Monument.
