Independence Hall

Between 1776 and 1787, Pennsylvania's State House (later renamed Independence Hall) was the site of a series of discussions and decisions that would forever alter the course of history. Those discussions throw light on the current controversy over the city's decision to close Chestnut Street in front of Independence Hall. Central to the discussions surrounding the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the creation of the U.S. Constitution was the age-old problem of finding the proper balance between communal security and personal liberty.

For a fee, summer visitors to Independence National Historical Park will be able to take a new tour that treats them to a unique look at the city's past. It's not only a journey back to Philadelphia's colonial era, but also to more carefree days before 9/11. The dinner tour lets visitors stroll the colonnade of Independence Hall in the quiet of the evening, and then step inside for an after-hours look at the old statehouse. Not really a big deal? Well, such casual, low-key access to democracy's birthplace, in fact, is a remarkable departure.

At dusk on Saturday, the Centennial Bell that hangs in the Independence Hall tower chimed for the first time in 18 months, filling the air with a clear, crisp sound that will mark every hour of every day. About 100 bystanders gathered to watch the unveiling of the Philadelphia landmark. "Here we are in the figurative shadow of our founders," Cynthia MacLeod, superintendent of Independence National Historical Park, said as she welcomed the crowd. She described the history of Independence Hall, from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution.

First, there was that crack in the Liberty Bell. Now this: Independence Hall has been closed because of an asbestos problem. Officials say the shutdown, which should last for about a week, will not affect the Presidents' Summit on Volunteerism later this month, when President Clinton is slated to deliver the keynote address outside the city's most historic structure. But the asbestos dust that was discovered yesterday as a renovation crew worked on the adjacent Congress Hall was not good news for the biggest tourist attraction in a city that's marketing itself as a major vacation destination.

Independence National Historical Park is in peril. That's from a report issued earlier this week by the National Parks and Conservation Association, a Washington-based nonprofit group. It listed examples from around the nation of looming threats and disasters at the nation's parks. Here's what the group found in Philadelphia: a sprinkler system at historic Independence Hall so outdated that a fire could level the building in fewer than 30 minutes, and antiquated plumbing that flooded the hall's basement three times last summer.

The scaffolding is up, girdling the familiar tower of Independence Hall. A decorative scrim, donated by the Friends of Independence and sporting an image of the tower, will soon itself be girdling the scaffolding - a reminder of what lies within and a cover for unsightly construction. The much-needed 14-month renovation of the tower is well under way, and previously unknown facts are revealing themselves - maybe not earthshaking surprises, but surprises nonetheless. Example: For years, architectural stewards at Independence National Historical Park believed that the spindle holding up the tower's stylized pointed weathervane was constructed from two pieces of iron.

Private security guards who have protested what they call poor working conditions at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell voted yesterday to unionize. The Wackenhut Services Inc. workers voted, 31-2, to join the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, district organizing coordinator Jeff Hornstein said. Fifteen guards did not vote. The election was held at a community hall a few blocks from Independence National Historical Park, which is also protected by the National Park Service.

A 2010 Temple University graduate was hospitalized in extremely critical condition after being beaten by three men near Independence Hall early Saturday morning, Philadelphia police said. The attack occurred about 2:30 a.m. as the 23-year-old man and two female friends were returning from the Lucy's Hat Shop bar blocks away on Market Street, investigators said. It was not clear exactly what sparked the incident. The victim apparently yelled at a taxi that failed to stop as the group hailed it in the 400 block of Chestnut Street, investigators said.

In the land of the free, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell will continue to be free to all. National Park Service Director William Penn Mott said in an interview yesterday that the hall and the bell would be spared from a $2 admission charge that the park service intends to slap on Independence National Historical Park after March 1. "We had never intended to collect" for visits to "the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall," Mott said,...

The invaders wore day-glo socks and sneakers and chewed wads of pink bubble gum. In some cases, their baseball caps were too big and rested on their ears, which bent under the weight. One invader was equipped with plastic binoculars. Several wore T-shirts that bore pictures of cartoon character Bart Simpson and read: "Don't have a cow, man. " They were numerous and seemed slightly alien. But they were nice, and smart, too. They were the kids from P.S. 87 in Manhattan.

It should have been an awkward moment. The king and queen of Sweden stood Friday afternoon in Independence Hall as a National Park Service ranger described the tyrannies of King George III of Britain, and the work of patriots who shucked off a monarch. But the royals nodded and smiled as they stood steps from where the colonists shed a king, gracious and polite. What do you call a king standing in a room where aristocracy was famously shunned? "Irony," Park Service superintendent Cynthia MacLeod later said.

EVER BEEN SO HUNGRY you thought you could eat a ton? Then grab three and a half friends and come to Wawa Hoagie Day on July 2 at the Independence Visitor Center, because there will be a free 4.5-ton hoagie. Yes, that's 9,000 pounds of Italian meats, convenience-store cheese and Philly sammich fixins. And yes, both Mayor Nutter and Michelle Obama will give you free passes on your weight-loss regimens that day. This monster of all hoagies is part of Philly's 20th annual Welcome America July 4th festival, a weeklong affair that will feature music from John Mayer, J. Cole, Grace Potter, Jill Scott, Ne-Yo, Demi Lovato - and, of course, the Roots.

* CONSTITUTION USA WITH PETER SAGAL. 9 p.m. today, WHYY 12. * TED TALKS EDUCATION. 10 p.m. today, WHYY 12.   IT DOESN'T take PBS' "Constitution USA with Peter Sagal" long to get to Philadelphia, where the document got hammered out. First, though, Sagal had to buy a motorcycle. Traveling on a customized red-white-and-blue Harley-Davidson - what could be more American? - the host of NPR's "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" crisscrosses the country in this monthlong series to talk with people about the document that was ratified nearly 225 years ago and has been causing arguments ever since.

The Benjamin Franklin Museum may reopen this summer after all. Until Wednesday morning, it looked as if the Old City museum, which is undergoing a $23.1 million modernization, would not have enough staff to open because of the federal budget cuts known as the sequester. But on Wednesday afternoon, officials of Independence National Historical Park, of which the museum is part, announced that a regional office of the National Park Service had permitted the park to hire enough seasonal workers to reopen the museum.

A contractor working in Independence Square on Wednesday found what park archaeologists believe may be a Civil War cannon shot. Park officials reported that the object, discovered just below ground tangled in tree roots, was immediately removed and "secured by park archaeologists and law enforcement officers. " Ever cautious, park officials then called in the Philadelphia Police Department bomb squad, who X-rayed the object and found it to be solid, and no danger to the public. The object appears to be a round cannon shot weighing in at 2.8 pounds; it has a diameter of 2.9 inches.

Growing up in Findlay, Ohio, in the 1940s, Charles Roche' sat on his grandmother's front porch at night and admired the glowing face of the clock atop the Hancock County Courthouse. Everyone in town loved it, he recalled. Decades later, as a Hatboro businessman, Roche' was struck by another community timekeeper: the Isaiah Lukens clock in the former Loller Academy tower, made by the same man who built a clock for Independence Hall. From his office balcony, he could see its face, graced by Roman numerals, gazing out over South York Road.

  More than 200 years after the Declaration of Independence was written, hearing it read aloud can still elicit huzzahs from an audience. Hundreds gathered on Sunday outside Independence Hall to hear the annual re-enactment of Col. John Nixon making the first public reading of the historic document announcing the formation of the original 13 American colonies and their independence from British rule. Nixon was a merchant and official from Philadelphia who also served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Free to the public, the Declaration's reading is held every year at noon on July 8 and hosted by Independence National Historical Park.

It's a big day for Philadelphia, the Fourth of July. The city's Celebration of Freedom Ceremony will be led by Mayor Nutter at 10 a.m. in front of Independence Hall. The hour-long event will include speeches, music, a fly-over by military jets, and readings from the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen people, symbolizing the 13 original colonies, are to become naturalized citizens. Wednesday is also the final day of the annual Wawa Welcome America festival. Following the ceremony, the Philadelphia Independence Day Parade will commence at 11 a.m. More than 5,000 people - from marching bands to military groups and performers on floats - will wind their way around the historic district.

With military jets streaking through a hazy blue sky in a flyover above Independence Hall, speeches, and a parade that blended history and pageantry, Philadelphia celebrated the Fourth of July on Wednesday. The festivities were set to culminate with a concert and fireworks on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. "This is the best Fourth of July celebration in the United States of America!" Mayor Michael Nutter promised a sea of spectators already baking on the lawn of Independence Mall during the 10 a.m. opening ceremonies of Wawa Welcome America: Celebration of Freedom.