Replicas of the Statue of Liberty somewhat larger-than-life size cast metal statues of wild animals, at least one of which is embossed with the name of the foundry. These castings and the replica all appear to be made of similar material and to be of similar age. It is also probable that they are near contemporaries of the actual Statue of Liberty. A large modern replica stands in front of the New York City Center, a shopping center constructed in 1999 in Barra da Tijuca in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The Havan department store chain has replicas in many of their stores. The largest
Statue of Liberty the Eiffel factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. 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. 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.