Free at Last

If not free, at least fenceless.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Independence Park fence plan scuttled, and the Daily News, Feds lose fencing match over Independence Mall, both reported that the proposed six-foot-high wrought-iron fence that would have cut through Independence Square has been dropped by the National Park Service. See Give Me Liberty or Give Me a Fence and Chain of Fools for earlier posts on the story.

As the Inquirer reported:

At a news conference yesterday at Independence Visitor Center, new Park Service director Mary A. Bomar said the fence would give way to "less intrusive" security measures.

The park also announced that security screening for Independence Hall would be moved out of Old City Hall, the building where the Supreme Court first met, and into the east wing of Independence Hall, which is a later addition to the complex.

The proposed fence would have cleaved the square where the Declaration of Independence was first read publicly in 1776. Independence Square, created early in the 18th century, has never been cut by a fence, and the proposal to do so aroused intense criticism.

Although it is still uncertain what security measures will be put in place, this is still great news. The article noted that:

But while the iron-fence proposal has been torpedoed - and Specter said flatly, "There's not going to be a wall" - some kind of barrier behind Independence Hall is still a possibility, according to Dennis Reidenbach, park superintendent.

Reidenbach said park officials must "strike a balance between security and liberty" and would be sitting down with public officials, citizens, and other interested parties to discuss how to achieve that goal behind Independence Hall.

He cited new security technology and increased security personnel as possibilities in lieu of an intrusive fence. But some kind of barrier replacing the current slew of bike racks in the square is also a possibility, he said. No decision on replacing or simply removing the bike racks has been made.

Moving security screening out of Old City Hall has been a goal of a coalition of area business leaders and residents. Reidenbach said the measure would allow the park to dramatize the historical significance of the original court building.

All bicycle barricades will also be removed from around the Liberty Bell Center, and plans for a screening hut for the center have been scrapped. Instead, bell visitors will be screened in the center itself.

Of course, it is only by coincidence that the announcement was made a few weeks before the upcoming election -- with the terrible twins, Senators Specter and Santorum, in tow. As the Daily News reported:

Bookended by smiling U.S. senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, both R-Pa., Bomar said the Park Service had decided to "eliminate" the proposed fence and to remove the bicycle barriers outside the Liberty Bell Center.

"This is a great day for freedom," Specter said, adding, "Today, we have told the would-be terrorists, we're not going to pay any attention to them" when it comes to limiting public access to Independence Mall.

"There oughtn't to be a fence," Specter said. "People ought to have access."

There was always the possibility that the fence plan would have been scuttled if the Democrats took control of Congress. Of course, I'm sure that didn't factor into the decision that was made by Santorum and Specter at this point. They would never have acted with the thought of trying to get credit from this move if it was only going to happen anyway.

But in the end, however it happened, I'm just happy it did.

(Photo by John Fischer)

Tags: Commentary, Philadelphia, Philly, Civil Liberties, Independence Hall