JERSEY CITY — The National Park Service said a major milestone in Ellis Island’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy was reached on Sept. 10, when the museum’s exhibit collection was returned to the island from a National Park Service museum storage facility in Maryland. The date marks the 25th anniversary week of the opening of the immigration museum on Ellis Island to the public.
Approximately half the museum’s collection, comprised of over a million archival documents and thousands of artifacts, was removed after the storm to a museum storage facility in Landover, MD. Its return has been on hold so that a $39.4 million mechanical and electrical infrastructure project to move these critical systems above flood elevations could be completed. The new systems will be more efficient and provide more precise humidity controls in the museum. The project is part of a $53 million storm recovery package for the island.
“With our museum environment stabilized and rebuilt for greater resiliency to future storm events, it’s now time to return the artifacts to the cases and exhibit galleries illustrating the Ellis Island immigration story,” said John Piltzecker, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island.
Installation of the artifacts into the exhibits began on Sept. 16 after the collection was inspected and inventoried.
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