Ellis Island reopened its door to the public on Monday (October 28) for the first time in a year after damage from Superstorm Sandy destroyed its electrical, communication, water and sewage systems.  The partial opening brought enthusiastic visitors to the historic landmark, such as Christine and Edward Konarski, who are visiting from Chicago.  They heard during their visit to Liberty Island last week that Ellis Island would open during their trip to New York.  “We were glad that we could get to the Statue of Liberty, and while we were going there we heard that Ellis Island was opening up on Monday. We’re not leaving until little later today, so we got up early and got on the first boat and here we are and we are anxious to get inside and take a look at history,” she told Reuters.  Liberty Island reopened on July 4, but was closed from October 1 through 16 because of the federal shutdown of the United States government.  Both Liberty Island and Ellis Island are part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument managed by the National Park Service.  After the first federal immigration station opened on Ellis Island in 1892, more than 12 million immigrants, mostly from Europe, presented themselves for inspection in its halls. Almost all of them had sailed in steerage class, while first- and second-class passengers, who were perceived to be less likely to harbor either disease or criminal tendencies, were generally allowed to continue on to Manhattan.  In 1924, after immigration laws were tightened the station was used mainly to process deportations and war refugees until it closed in 1954.  About a third of the U.S. population today can trace their ancestry to someone who disembarked on Ellis Island.  Annette Karagaeanes (pronounced: Keh-ra-gee-nes), a visitor from Detroit, Michigan who is of Greek heritage, said that she was glad to have been able visit the island.  “It’s because my grandparents came through Ellis Island and I would really like to see their entry through the country and this is just a very important part of my heritage and my being American and them coming over here. So it’s great,” she explained.  Visitors were able to see the island’s famous views of the downtown Manhattan skyline and tour parts of the immigration museum in the island’s Beaux-Arts main building, including the Great Hall that was once crowded with newly arrived immigrants.  David Luchsinger, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument was happy to see visitors again at the island.  “It’s been a whole year I haven’t seen visitors here so it means the world to me. It means the world to my staff to be back and open again,” said Luchsinger.  The National Park Service estimated the total cost of repairing the damage done on both islands at $77 million.  But on Ellis Island most of the repairs are invisible, Luchsinger explained.  “Most of the work that we have been done (doing) are interim fixes while we work on designing a permanent solution, which we have done. Now we have permanent solutions to make it as sustainable as possible so that in the event of another Hurricane Sandy we don’t have the same destruction,” he said.  Environmental controls are still not working, allowing mold to grow on the ceilings of the Great Hall.  The bulk of the museum’s collection of documents and historical artifacts is still in storage in Maryland at a National Archives facility while new climate-control systems can be installed in the building.  President Lyndon Johnson declared the 27.5-acre island to be part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened in the island’s main building in 1990. Published on Oct 29, 2013 by  News & Politics.