Independence Hall is closed until January

Independence Hall will remain closed to visitors through late January due to preservation work on the building’s interior ahead of Philadelphia’s Semiquincentennial celebrations next year.

The entire building will be closed to visitors until Jan. 28, the National Park Service said in a statement. The closure, the service said, will allow workers to expedite “completion of the project and resumption of public tours.”

Repairs on the building come as part of the Independence Square Improvement Project, which the service began at Independence National Historical Park in March. Work undertaken as part of the project also includes improvements to Congress Hall and Old City Hall, on which work has concluded, the service said.

The revamp of Independence Hall will include restoration of wood, masonry, plaster, and metal in the building, along with new historically accurate paint finishes and the construction of accessibility ramps.

Independence Hall was among the federal sites in Philadelphia closed amid the federal government shutdown, which prompted a number of popular historical tourist destinations in the city to shut their doors Oct. 1. It falls under the purview of the National Park Service, which furloughed staff and closed a number of sites nationwide amid the 43-day shutdown.

The site of where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the building serves as one of Independence National Historical Park’s core components, alongside the Liberty Bell Center, which was also closed during the shutdown. While the Liberty Bell reopened to visitors Thursday following the resolution of the shutdown late Wednesday, Independence Hall remained closed.

In total, Independence Hall will remain closed for 119 days before its reopening in 2026. The planned preservation work, the park service said, would allow the building to continue service “as a beacon of American freedom and connect current and future visitors with the inspirational story of the country’s founding.”