Statue of Liberty 1889, there were 38 U.S. states), although this was not done. Above that, a balcony was placed on each side, framed by pillars. Bartholdi placed an observation platform near the top of the pedestal, above which the statue itself rises. According to author Louis Auchincloss, the pedestal "craggily evokes the power of an ancient Europe over which rises the dominating figure of the Statue of Liberty". The committee hired former army General Charles Pomeroy Stone to oversee the construction work. Construction on the foundation began in 1883, and the pedestal's cornerstone was laid in 1884. In Hunt's original conception, the
Conservation-restoration of the Statue of Liberty Before being replaced, the bar was photographed; the image is in the June 1986 issue of "Smithsonian" magazine. The torch was removed from the statue on July 4, 1984. An article in "The New York Times" from October 8, 1984, stated that the new torch is to be completed in the same manner that the old torch was made in 14 months by ten craftsmen from Les metalliers Champenois based in Reims, and that a workshop at the statue's base on Liberty Island had been made accessible to the public that month. Within the copper body of the statue is