City Beach statue back in action

SANDPOINT — After a three-month absence, Lady Liberty is back at City Beach. 

The miniature Statue of Liberty replica has returned to its pedestal on the end of a pier at City Beach on Wednesday with a fresh coat of turquoise paint and a repaired base structure. 

The Sandpoint landmark was removed from the site in August after residents noticed it was not securely fastened to its pedestal. According to a city of Sandpoint press release, local businesses Creative Design & Ingenuity and A-10 Auto Body performed the necessary work to successfully restore the statue during its time away. 

When the statue was removed, Sandpoint Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker said it had sustained damage to one of its mounting brackets from the stress of kids climbing on the statue and jumping off it into Lake Pend Oreille. 

“Kids were liking to climb on it, and jiggle it, and jump off it,” Welker said at a Dec. 4 Sandpoint City Council meeting. “This is now diving board-proof,” he added. “This thing’s going to be here for another 30 years, and we don't have to worry about it now.” 

Lady Liberty gained her place at City Beach in 2003 when family members of Louise (Lee) Turner, a local businesswoman and owner of two restaurants in the area, gifted the city the replica statue that stood in her yard as a monument to her legacy. 

Since then, the landmark has been a popular tourist attraction and a cultural icon for Sandpoint and North Idaho. Backed by Lake Pend Oreille and the rising Cabinet Mountains across the water, the statue embodies residents’ regard for freedom, self-reliance and liberty.