Why does Liberty lift her torch in Orlando?
Red roses complement the blue and white of the sky in patriotic accompaniment to Orlando’s Statue of Liberty on the traffic island at North Magnolia and North Orange avenues, near Lake Ivanhoe. Have you ever wondered how the 8-foot-4 statue came to stand at an entrance to Interstate 4, which did not exist when she arrived in 1953? David Whitley has the answer.
Why is there a miniature Statue of Liberty in Orlando?
Lady Liberty stands in the middle of a traffic island at the intersection of North Magnolia and North Orange avenues, just across from Lake Ivanhoe.
The statue has been there since 1953, long before the first car zoomed past on nearby Interstate 4. She was a gift to the city from the Boy Scouts of the Central Florida Council.
It was part of the Scouts’ nationwide “Strengthening the Arm of Liberty” program. About 200 statues were built and placed around the country between 1949 and 1953.
They weighed 290 pounds and were made of sheet copper. They stood 8 feet, 4 inches tall, or approximately 144 feet shorter than the original Lady Liberty in New York harbor.
Now that one would stop traffic.
The statues cost $350. The Boy Scouts (who announced last week that they will be changing the name of their program to just “Scouts” in early 2018) raised the money, and the Kiwanis Club of Orlando paid for the statue’s base.
She stood proudly, minding her own business for 30 years. The wear and tear of oxidation and pigeons slowly took a toll, and then vandals mangled the spikes on the crown.
Robert G. Neel, president of the Woodlawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home and a major go-getter, was sitting at a red light one day and noticed Lady Liberty’s condition.
“She was a symbol of freedom that had gotten dirty and was forgotten,” he said at the time. “I felt something should be done.”
Neel raised $25,000 to have her shipped to Pennsylvania, where she was stripped of paint and coated in bronze.
The city refurbished the traffic island, adding new walls, new irrigation lines, floodlights, palm trees and flagpoles. Mayor Bill Frederick rededicated the statue on June 27, 1985.
Orlando’s statue has fared better than many of her colleagues. About 50 of the original miniatures have been lost or destroyed.
So if you’re wondering why there’s a Statue of Liberty in Orlando, call it a mixture of Boy Scout determination and enduring patriotism.
“I have never in my life been a part of a project where people have taken such an interest,” Neel said after the restoration. “Residents have sent cards and letters encouraging efforts to preserve the Lady. After all, just like the statue in New York, our Lady is a symbol of liberty, justice and freedom.”
As the poem says at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
Was she talking about the Magic, who showed up on our shore in 1989?
If you’re wondering why they can’t win, or have another Why on your mind, let us know. Like Lady Liberty, we’ll try to shed some light on the subject.
Have you ever wondered “Why?” Why what? Why it’s almost impossible to find a good deli around here. Why the Magic are perpetual losers. Why Walt Disney chose Orlando for his little theme park. Why the code for Orlando’s airport is MCO. Central Florida is full of Whys, and we’d like to start answering them. Email your “Why?” suggestions to David Whitley of our Community Conversations Team at dwhitley@orlandosentinel.com