It's slowly improved since, with the road in front of the building reopened and a slight improvement in the cosmetics of the security barriers. Now it sounds like the situation will improve a bit more.
To the delight of activist Ann Meredith, who led the fight to free Independence Mall from proposed six-foot security fencing, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar announced yesterday that the national shrine would remain fenceless.
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."
Still, I wish someone would answer a very simple question - why the hell do people need to go through a metal detector to enter the building? It's ridiculous.