Philly's Independence Hall closed to tourists
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Philadelphia Mayor John Street, center, strolls down Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall following a ceremony to reopen the street, closed since 9/11. The hall has been temporarily closed, however.
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Citing concerns about the possibility of a terrorist strike, the National Park Service suspended tours of Independence Hall after the street beside the landmark building reopened to pedestrians and vehicles for the first time since the September 11 attacks.
The street's reopening was cheered by neighborhood merchants and civic activists, but it also opened a hole in the security zone that the National Park Service had set up to screen visitors to the site where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were created.
The building could remain shuttered for one or two weeks while the park implements a new security plan and installs a new bank of metal detectors, said Park Service spokesman Phil Sheridan, who called the shutdown unfortunate, but unavoidable.
Mayor John Street ordered the short section of road reopened, saying a security blockade was no longer needed. Led by a fife and drum corps playing "Yankee Doodle Dandy," Street marched through the area Tuesday after it opened.
The cement barricades that had circled the block for 18 months had left the building looking like it was "in custody," rather than the birthplace of American liberty, Street said.
"There is a symbolism involved here ... that is greater than just the ability of people and automobiles to pass through a block," he said.
The street closure had been a major inconvenience for pedestrians crossing the park, and cars and city buses were forced to drive several blocks out of their way.
Some people were dissatisfied Tuesday that the dispute wasn't resolved in a way that would keep the hall open. The Philadelphia Daily News lambasted the impasse with the front page headline:"Independence Hall Held Hostage."
Pam Haczynski, 24, of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, was visiting Philadelphia on Tuesday, trying to get tickets to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. She said she was very disappointed to learn the hall was closed.
"I really don't think it's that big a target," she said. "If someone is going to bomb us, they're going to bomb us in New York, and if they come here, what's really going to stop them?"
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