Idealists, Scoundrels and the Lady

A former associate director of the National Park Service, Holland served as director of restoration and preservation for the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. This arm of a public/private commission, established by President Reagan in 1982 and chaired by Lee Iacocca, had as its mandate the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in time for Liberty's 1986 centennial. Based on a diary he kept during his tenure, Holland's densely written account details the pitfalls of private sector involvement in fund-raising for public projects. Clashes erupted between the foundation, the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, sparked by sharply differing ideological approaches and culminating in a General Accounting Office investigation and congressional hearings. Ultimately, Holland deemed the project a success, but it is his documentation of the problems inherent in public/private sector cooperation that will be greatest interest to historians. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)