City Beach Lady Liberty statue going in for repairs

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Few other Sandpoint landmarks are more photographed than the replica of Lady Liberty at the end of the City Beach pier — however, those snapshots will have to wait while the statue is undergoing repairs.

The empty pedestal at City Beach where the Statue of Liberty was recently removed. Photo by Ben Olson.

In an Aug. 19 post on Facebook, the city of Sandpoint stated that Lady Liberty had “sustained damage” and would require two to four weeks of work before reinstallation.

The source of the damage: summertime recreation.

“Kids like to climb up on it and jump off and that creates a lot of torque,” Sandpoint Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker told the Reader.

That torque resulted in the failure of a weld that held one of the brackets in place, which in turn dislodged Lady Liberty from her base.

“The whole statue was wobbling from side to side,” Welker said.

After hearing of Lady Liberty’s precarious position, Sandpoint police cordoned off the area and Sandpoint Parks Department staff came to the beach to remove the statue and bring it in for repairs.

Welker said that the city works with a few different local welders, and will bring in an aluminum welding specialist to replace the bracket — work that he estimated would cost about $100.

“It’s not a hard job at all,” he said.

The same can’t be said for fishing Lady Liberty out of the lake.

“In the 23 years that it’s been there it’s been ripped out [of its base] and pulled out from the lakebed twice,” Welker said. “We’re trying to prevent having to do that again.”