Little Liberty is standing in Sauget again. The century-old Statue of Liberty replica is back outside the National Building Arts Center after it was taken down for restoration in 2025.
FOX 2 reported Wednesday that the figure has been reinstalled following major repairs. The berth is new. The corrosion problem is not.
A Warehouse Roof, Then a Museum Garden
The National Building Arts Center traces the statue to 1902, when it was installed at the Liberty Warehouse in Manhattan. On February 17, 2002, the Athena Group donated it to the Brooklyn Museum.
Brooklyn put it through another restoration before it ever came west. From 2005 to 2006, Conservation Solutions restored Little Liberty and set it on a new, simplified base in the museum’s sculpture garden.
One Thousand Miles and a Moving Bill
The Brooklyn Museum later donated Little Liberty to the center. In May 2023 it left New York for the Metro East. St. Louis Public Radio reported that the trip began in Brooklyn on a Monday night and reached the center on Thursday afternoon, roughly 1,000 miles later.
FOX 2 has described the transfer as part of a partnership to preserve historic architectural artifacts. The center’s 2023 appeal was more conditional than that arrival sounds: “We hope to have the statue in place in 2023, but we need your help to fund the transportation and reinstallation.” The page estimated that project at $40,000, including $25,000 to dismantle and move the statue and $15,000 to install it.
The move happened in the year the appeal hoped for. A restored figure, standing outside, did not.
Rust at the Feet
Fixing the statue was priced separately from moving it. When Little Liberty reached Sauget, St. Louis Public Radio reported that it needed about $50,000 of work to restore the interior structure and repair rust that had begun to grow over its feet.
The metalwork described in later coverage came in 2025. FOX 2 said the job included removing corroded sections and patching in new metal, work that began in late April and was expected to take several months. The replica was taken down that year. The center has said that after restoration, “It will remain a permanent fixture at the center.”
Accounts of the height still diverge. FOX 2’s repair report said the statue would stand 30 feet tall on a 20-foot pedestal, 50 feet in all. The Guardian, writing in June 2023, described Little Liberty as 30 feet tall, with most of that height in a 25-foot base.
Back Outside in Sauget
Wednesday’s news is the reinstallation: Little Liberty is outside the center in Sauget again, and the center’s stated plan is that the restored statue stays.
The center’s Goddess Gala 2026 page describes an evening dedicated to preservation. Online ticket sales had ended.
