One of the cityâ??s most recognizable symbols started to take shape atop the frozen surface of Lake Mendota in front of Memorial Union on Thursday afternoon after more than a dozen yearsâ?? absence. Thatâ??s right, the Statue of Liberty has returned to Madison.
Constructed and first erected by University of Wisconsin-Madison students in February 1979 based on a promise by the infamous and prank-prone Pail and Shovel Party in its student government platform, the statue has returned to the surface of Lake Mendota twice; once the following winter and again in early 1996. Lady Liberty also made an appearance on Willow Island in 2004 after a restoration by Dane County. Now she is returning to her original home on the ice in front of Memorial Union as part of the Hoofers Winter Carnival.