Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Valley Forge will close if government shuts down
Independence National Historical Park includes Independence Hall, Independence Visitor Center, Congress Hall, Old City Hall, Declaration House, Second Bank and other areas. All would be closed.
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The U.S. Department of Interior announced Friday that all National Park Service locations will be closed if there is a government shutdown Sunday, potentially impacting thousands of people who planned to visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Valley Forge.
“Gates will be locked, visitor centers will be closed, and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed,” department officials said. They discouraged the public from visiting the sites in order to protect them.
That’s no small loss if the shutdown lingers as it did from Dec. 2018 to January 2019 when the U.S. government was closed for 34 days.
» READ MORE: A government shutdown could be imminent. What does that mean
A National Park Service report released this month found 2.7 million people visited Independence National Historical Park in 2022. They spent $178 million in nearby areas. Tourists come to Philadelphia from around the world to visit the park.
In August alone, the park counted 313,756 visits. In October 2022, it logged 240,676 visits.
Independence National Historical Park includes Independence Hall, Independence Visitor Center, Congress Hall, Old City Hall, Declaration House, Second Bank and other areas. Visitors should expect that many of the services and facilities will be closed or largely unavailable if there is a shutdown.
Independence Mall would likely remain accessible because it’s an open area. However, park restrooms will likely be closed and trash collection halted.
Valley Forge National Historical Park will also be impacted. The park commemorates the encampment site of the Continental Army during the winter of 1777-1778. It includes 3,500 acres of meadows, woodlands, and monuments.
The grounds have 35 miles of trails used by hikers and cyclists, and are bordered by Route 23 and bisected by Gulph Road. Valley Forge, which has no entrance fees, gets about 2 million visitors a year.
The highly used Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which has its headquarters in Bushkill, and Gettysburg National Military Park, are both part of the National Park system and facilities there would be impacted as well.