Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi 1871, not finishing the massive sandstone statue until 1880. In 1871, he made his first trip to the United States, where he pitched the idea of a massive statue gifted from the French to the Americans in honor of the centennial of American independence. The idea, which had first been broached to him in 1865 by his friend Édouard René de Laboulaye, resulted in the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. After years of work and fundraising, the statue was inaugurated in 1886. During this period, Bartholdi also sculpted a number of monuments for American cities, such as a
Bartholdi Park sustainable self-sustaining gardens. The centerpiece of the park, the Bartholdi fountain, was originally purchased by the United States government for $6,000 in 1877. Previously, the fountain had stood at Fairmount Park during the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. After its purchase, it was placed at the base of Capitol Hill until 1926. Following six years in storage after being removed from Capitol Hill, the fountain was moved to its current location in Bartholdi Park in 1932. In 2008 the fountain was temporarily removed from the park by the Architect of the Capitol for a complete restoration to repair deterioration of