Statue of Liberty and about two percent of the exterior plates needed to be replaced. Although problems with the armature had been recognized as early as 1936, when cast iron replacements for some of the bars had been installed, much of the corrosion had been hidden by layers of paint applied over the years. In May 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced the formation of the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Centennial Commission, led by Chrysler Corporation chair Lee Iacocca, to raise the funds needed to complete the work. Through its fundraising arm, the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., the group raised more than
Conservation-restoration of the Statue of Liberty only for several days at a time at most. The restoration would not begin until January 23, 1984. An article from "The New York Times" published the day after, indicated that the 30-month project had officially begun the day before, and that visitors would have approximately two weeks remaining before the statue would be completely enshrouded by the tons of extruded aluminum scaffolding that had just been deposited on Liberty Island. The scaffolding contract was awarded to a company called Universal Builders Supply (UBS) Inc. on December 14, 1983. The contract stipulated that the freestanding exterior scaffold was to be