THE GONG SHOW

By CHRIS BUNTING

October 14, 2003 -- ON what had to be the least-stressful day ever for movers this past Thursday — given the one-ton merchandise was already broken — the Liberty Bell was transplanted from its old Pavillion into the new Liberty Bell Center in downtown Philadelphia on Sixth street, between Market and Chestnut Streets.

Depite its lavish new $13 million digs (part of Independence National Historical Park’s multimillion-dollar face-lift), the 250-year-old bronze guest of honor still has the best crack in town: a 241/2-inch hairline fracture running up its front.

The Liberty Center itself is not without controversy. Because the bell now hangs where George Washington’s slaves once lived, new exhibits have been added detailing Philly’s racist past. Expect a $1.5 million memorial to our first president’s servants to be erected soon.

But the center still extols the bell’s virtues. It was dubbed "Liberty" by abolitionists in 1835, and its symbolic message of freedom has been used in the fight for women’s suffrage and in ending apartheid.

For more info on the Liberty Center — just 70 minutes away via Amtrak’s Acela — visit www.gophila.com .

The gong show [NYP]