News Release

New Virtual Tour of the Statue of Liberty Released

Interior view of the crown

Historic American Building Survey

News Release Date: May 26, 2020

Contact: Jerry Willis, [phone]

Liberty Island, NY  – The National Park Service (NPS) announced today that a new virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty is now available for viewing by the public. It is a visually stunning exploration of the Statue of Liberty’s exterior and interior spaces composed from state of the art 360° digital photogrammetry. Beginning with the statue’s torch, viewers can navigate a course of their choosing, experiencing views not previously available to visitors of the Statue of Liberty.

“We are looking forward to Liberty Island once again being open to the public,” said John Piltzecker, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. “Until then, this tour provides not only a virtual visit but an opportunity to see the Statue of Liberty from perspectives that are not available to visitors when on the island.”

The web-based tour was produced by the NPS Heritage Documentation Program’s (HDP) Historic American Building Survey (HABS), the federal government’s oldest preservation program. The interactive tour is part of a comprehensive survey to create a high accuracy model of the Statue of Liberty, utilizing advanced 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry technologies. For the first time, a complete model of the statue will be assembled, which will aid in the future preservation and interpretation of the site.
 
“It's exciting to know that visitors will have access to the Statue in ways they've never had before. HABS and HDP have always been about making America's built heritage available to the public, and virtual tours are a 21st-century take on that mission,” said Paul Davidson, Lead Architect for the project. “They dovetail with the more traditional drawings, history, and photographs we produce. I think it's great we can give something like this to the public in the course of fulfilling our mission of preservation through documentation.”

The public is invited to access the virtual tour through the National Park Service’s web portal at https://www.nps.gov/hdp/exhibits/stli/stli_tour.html

 -NPS-

About the Statue of Liberty  
The statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is recognized as a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was designated as a National Monument in 1924. Employees of the National Park Service have been caring for the colossal copper statue since 1933.


About the Heritage Documentation Programs   
Heritage Documentation Programs administers the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Federal Government's oldest preservation program, and its companion programs: the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). Documentation produced through the programs constitutes the nation's largest archive of historic architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation. The HABS/HAER/HALS Collection is housed at the Library of Congress.