<P> Eiffel's design made the statue one of the earliest examples of curtain wall construction, in which the exterior of the structure is not load bearing, but is instead supported by an interior framework . He included two interior spiral staircases, to make it easier for visitors to reach the observation point in the crown . Access to an observation platform surrounding the torch was also provided, but the narrowness of the arm allowed for only a single ladder, 40 feet (12 m) long . As the pylon tower arose, Eiffel and Bartholdi coordinated their work carefully so that completed segments of skin would fit exactly on the support structure . The components of the pylon tower were built in the Eiffel factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois - Perret . </P> <P> The change in structural material from masonry to iron allowed Bartholdi to change his plans for the statue's assembly . He had originally expected to assemble the skin on - site as the masonry pier was built; instead he decided to build the statue in France and have it disassembled and transported to the United States for reassembly in place on Bedloe's Island . </P> <P> In a symbolic act, the first rivet placed into the skin, fixing a copper plate onto the statue's big toe, was driven by United States Ambassador to France Levi P. Morton . The skin was not, however, crafted in exact sequence from low to high; work proceeded on a number of segments simultaneously in a manner often confusing to visitors . Some work was performed by contractors--one of the fingers was made to Bartholdi's exacting specifications by a coppersmith in the southern French town of Montauban . By 1882, the statue was complete up to the waist, an event Barthodi celebrated by inviting reporters to lunch on a platform built within the statue . Laboulaye died in 1883 . He was succeeded as chairman of the French committee by Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal . The completed statue was formally presented to Ambassador Morton at a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1884, and de Lesseps announced that the French government had agreed to pay for its transport to New York . The statue remained intact in Paris pending sufficient progress on the pedestal; by January 1885, this had occurred and the statue was disassembled and crated for its ocean voyage . </P> <P> The committees in the United States faced great difficulties in obtaining funds for the construction of the pedestal . The Panic of 1873 had led to an economic depression that persisted through much of the decade . The Liberty statue project was not the only such undertaking that had difficulty raising money: construction of the obelisk later known as the Washington Monument sometimes stalled for years; it would ultimately take over three - and - a-half decades to complete . There was criticism both of Bartholdi's statue and of the fact that the gift required Americans to foot the bill for the pedestal . In the years following the Civil War, most Americans preferred realistic artworks depicting heroes and events from the nation's history, rather than allegorical works like the Liberty statue . There was also a feeling that Americans should design American public works--the selection of Italian - born Constantino Brumidi to decorate the Capitol had provoked intense criticism, even though he was a naturalized U.S. citizen . Harper's Weekly declared its wish that "M. Bartholdi and our French cousins had' gone the whole figure' while they were about it, and given us statue and pedestal at once ." The New York Times stated that "no true patriot can countenance any such expenditures for bronze females in the present state of our finances ." Faced with these criticisms, the American committees took little action for several years . </P>

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