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112-572: ShowBiz Pizza Place , or simply ShowBiz Pizza , was an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain founded in 1980 by Robert L. Brock and Creative Engineering (CEI). It emerged after a separation between Brock and owners of the Chuck E. Cheese franchise, Pizza Time Theatre. ShowBiz Pizza restaurants entertained guests through a large selection of arcade games, coin-operated rides, and animatronic stage shows. The two companies became competitors and found early success, partly due to

224-455: A monumental sculpture carved in sandstone below the fortress of Belfort , which during the war had resisted a Prussian siege for over three months. The defiant lion, 73 feet (22 m) long and half that in height, displays an emotional quality characteristic of Romanticism , which Bartholdi would later bring to the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi and Laboulaye considered how best to express

336-487: A pileus , and Bartholdi at first considered placing one on his figure as well. Instead, he used a radiate halo , nimbus , to top its head. In so doing, he avoided a reference to Marianne, who invariably wears a pileus . Many believed they evoke the sun, the seven seas, and the seven continents, and represent another means, besides the torch, whereby Liberty enlightens the world, but research has not confirmed this. Bartholdi's early models were all similar in concept:

448-407: A bold and clear design, accentuated in the important places. The enlargement of the details or their multiplicity is to be feared. By exaggerating the forms, in order to render them more clearly visible, or by enriching them with details, we would destroy the proportion of the work. Finally, the model, like the design, should have a summarized character, such as one would give to a rapid sketch. Only it

560-512: A broken chain, half-hidden by her robes and difficult to see from the ground. Her right foot is raised and set back, in a classical contrapposto pose that looks stationary when viewed from the front, but dynamic when viewed from the side, signifying a solid footing and a posture more relaxed than that of two feet set side by side, and introducing a sense of tension between standing and moving forward, both physically and mentally. The upright form and outstretched leg may have also helped to stabilize

672-486: A cleanup of Bedloe's Island in anticipation of the dedication. General Charles Stone claimed on the day of dedication that no man had died during the construction of the statue; this was not true, as Francis Longo, a thirty-nine-year-old Italian laborer, had been killed when an old wall fell on him. When built, the statue was reddish-brown and shiny, but within twenty years it had oxidized to its current green color through reactions with air, water and acidic pollution, forming

784-438: A consistently developed and promoted theme that appeals to the target market segments, "the fun factor in the overall decor". Parental concerns are also important. While children themselves rarely think of it, a major factor in the attractiveness of an FEC to parents is on-site safety and security, as adults may drop off older children at such an establishment to entertain themselves. An increasingly important factor for success

896-535: A coppersmith in the southern French town of Montauban . By 1882, the statue was complete up to the waist, an event Bartholdi 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 Lesseps. The completed statue was formally presented to Ambassador Morton at a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1884, and Lesseps announced that

1008-532: A disused army base on Bedloe's Island constructed between 1807 and 1811. Since 1823, it had rarely been used, though during the Civil War, it had served as a recruiting station. The fortifications of the structure were in the shape of an eleven-point star. The statue's foundation and pedestal were aligned so that it would face southeast, greeting ships entering the harbor from the Atlantic Ocean. In 1881,

1120-561: A dollar (equivalent to $ 34 in 2023). The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland . The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by

1232-586: A dollar as "the money we saved to go to the circus with." Another dollar was given by a "lonely and very aged woman." Residents of a home for alcoholics in New York's rival city of Brooklyn—the cities would not merge until 1898—donated $ 15; other drinkers helped out through donation boxes in bars and saloons. A kindergarten class in Davenport, Iowa , mailed the World a gift of $ 1.35. As the donations flooded in,

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1344-402: A drive to raise $ 30,000 (equivalent to $ 840,000 in 2023) for an exterior lighting system to illuminate the statue at night. He claimed over 80,000 contributors, but failed to reach the goal. The difference was quietly made up by a gift from a wealthy donor—a fact that was not revealed until 1936. An underwater power cable brought electricity from the mainland and floodlights were placed along

1456-532: A female figure in neoclassical style representing liberty, wearing a stola and pella (gown and cloak, common in depictions of Roman goddesses) and holding a torch aloft. According to popular accounts, the face was modeled after that of Augusta Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, the sculptor's mother, but Regis Huber, the curator of the Bartholdi Museum is on record as saying that this, as well as other similar speculations, have no basis in fact. He designed

1568-459: A few rides and midway games, and diversifying formerly one-attraction venues ( water parks , skate parks , billiard halls , bowling alleys , and so on). All three categories have moved over several decades continually toward stock, popular entertainment solutions supplied by third-party vendors. Chuck E. Cheese , opened in 1977 as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California ,

1680-510: A friend of Bartholdi's, artist John LaFarge , later maintained that Bartholdi made the first sketches for the statue during his visit to La Farge's Rhode Island studio. Bartholdi continued to develop the concept following his return to France. He also worked on a number of sculptures designed to bolster French patriotism after the defeat by the Prussians. One of these was the Lion of Belfort ,

1792-592: A glowworm than a beacon." Bartholdi suggested gilding the statue to increase its ability to reflect light, but this proved too expensive. The United States Lighthouse Board took over the Statue of Liberty in 1887 and pledged to install equipment to enhance the torch's effect; in spite of its efforts, the statue remained virtually invisible at night. When Bartholdi returned to the United States in 1893, he made additional suggestions, all of which proved ineffective. He did successfully lobby for improved lighting within

1904-559: A harbor entrance and carried a light to guide ships. Both the khedive and Ferdinand de Lesseps , developer of the Suez Canal, declined the proposed statue from Bartholdi, citing the high cost. The Port Said Lighthouse was built instead, by François Coignet in 1869. Upon his return from Egypt, Bartholdi visited a 76-foot Giovanni Battista Crespi 's sculpture in repoussé copper covering an iron armature at Lago Maggiore in Italy, and

2016-635: A huge painting of the statue to be shown in New York as part of the Centennial festivities. The arm did not arrive in Philadelphia until August; because of its late arrival, it was not listed in the exhibition catalogue, and while some reports correctly identified the work, others called it the "Colossal Arm" or "Bartholdi Electric Light". The exhibition grounds contained a number of monumental artworks to compete for fairgoers' interest, including an outsized fountain designed by Bartholdi. Nevertheless,

2128-419: A large suburban area outside such a city. Their busiest times are weekend afternoons and Thursday through Saturday evenings. Because most of the attractions are essentially the same from FEC to FEC, two of the most important factors in a particular center distinguishing itself to potential customers are a highly visible location (hard to obtain because other uses for the land are often more competitive ), and

2240-491: A layer of verdigris which protects the copper from further corrosion. A ceremony of dedication was held on the afternoon of October 28, 1886. President Grover Cleveland, the former New York governor, presided over the event. On the morning of the dedication, a parade was held in New York City; estimates of the number of people who watched it ranged from several hundred thousand to a million. President Cleveland headed

2352-661: A major of militia. In the war, Napoleon III was captured and deposed. Bartholdi's home province of Alsace was lost to the Prussians , and a more liberal republic was installed in France. As Bartholdi had been planning a trip to the United States, he and Laboulaye decided the time was right to discuss the idea with influential Americans. In June 1871, Bartholdi crossed the Atlantic, with letters of introduction signed by Laboulaye. Arriving at New York Harbor , Bartholdi focused on Bedloe's Island (now named Liberty Island ) as

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2464-534: A monument presented by the French people to the United States was first proposed by Édouard René de Laboulaye , president of the French Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent and important political thinker of his time. The project is traced to a mid-1865 conversation between Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist , and Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi , a sculptor. In after-dinner conversation at his home near Versailles , Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of

2576-507: A number of groups about the project, and urged the formation of American committees of the Franco-American Union. Committees to raise money to pay for the foundation and pedestal were formed in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The New York group eventually took on most of the responsibility for American fundraising and is often referred to as the "American Committee". One of its members was 19-year-old Theodore Roosevelt ,

2688-450: A respectable living for himself and family, without being ku-kluxed , perhaps murdered, his daughter and wife outraged, and his property destroyed. The idea of the "liberty" of this country "enlightening the world," or even Patagonia , is ridiculous in the extreme. When the torch was illuminated on the evening of the statue's dedication, it produced only a faint gleam, barely visible from Manhattan. The World characterized it as "more like

2800-581: A site for the statue, struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it. He was delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government—it had been ceded by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense. It was thus, as he put it in a letter to Laboulaye: "land common to all the states." As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers, Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant , who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain

2912-448: 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

3024-672: A torch aloft, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal in Port Said . Sketches and models were made of the proposed work, though it was never erected. There was a classical precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes : an ancient bronze statue of the Greek god of the sun, Helios . This statue is believed to have been over 100 feet (30 m) high, and it similarly stood at

3136-573: A week before the dedication, the Army Corps of Engineers vetoed the proposal, fearing that ships' pilots passing the statue would be blinded. Instead, Bartholdi cut portholes in the torch—which was covered with gold leaf —and placed the lights inside them. A power plant was installed on the island to light the torch and for other electrical needs. After the skin was completed, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted , co-designer of Manhattan's Central Park and Brooklyn's Prospect Park , supervised

3248-538: Is a figure of a classically draped woman, likely inspired by the Roman goddess of liberty Libertas . In a contrapposto pose, she holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals ), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence . With her left foot she steps on a broken chain and shackle , commemorating

3360-425: Is fragmented with architectural detail, in order to focus attention on the statue. In form, it is a truncated pyramid, 62 feet (19 m) square at the base and 39.4 feet (12.0 m) at the top. The four sides are identical in appearance. Above the door on each side, there are ten disks upon which Bartholdi proposed to place the coats of arms of the states (between 1876 and 1889, there were 38 of them), although this

3472-558: Is high-quality food and drink to attract parental spending as well as whole-family dining. Various major media and entertainment brands, including Disney , Lego , NASCAR , Sega , Sony , United Artists/Regal and Viacom , have been attached to family entertainment centers, often much less "traditional" than local and chain FECs, with custom-built, unique attractions, usually heavily branded, and most often located in major metropolitan areas. The first such urban entertainment center (UEC)

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3584-421: Is necessary that this character should be the product of volition and study, and that the artist, concentrating his knowledge, should find the form and the line in its greatest simplicity. Bartholdi made alterations in the design as the project evolved. Bartholdi considered having Liberty hold a broken chain, but decided this would be too divisive in the days after the Civil War. The erected statue does stride over

3696-587: The Department of War ; since 1933, it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument , and is a major tourist attraction. Limited numbers of visitors can access the rim of the pedestal and the interior of the statue's crown from within; public access to the torch has been barred since 1916. According to the National Park Service , the idea of

3808-497: 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

3920-579: The Union in the American Civil War , is supposed to have said: "If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by united effort—a common work of both our nations." The National Park Service, in a 2000 report, however, deemed this a legend traced to an 1885 fundraising pamphlet, and that the statue was most likely conceived in 1870. In another essay on their website,

4032-443: The national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War . After its dedication the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, being subsequently seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. The idea for the statue was conceived in 1865, when the French historian and abolitionist Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a monument to commemorate the upcoming centennial of U.S. independence (1876),

4144-635: The Americas as an "Indian princess", which had come to be regarded as uncivilized and derogatory toward Americans. The other significant female icon in American culture was a representation of Liberty , derived from Libertas , the goddess of freedom widely worshipped in ancient Rome , especially among emancipated slaves . A Liberty figure adorned most American coins of the time, and representations of Liberty appeared in popular and civic art, including Thomas Crawford 's Statue of Freedom (1863) atop

4256-608: The Beattie Quarry in Branford, Connecticut . The concrete mass was the largest poured to that time. Norwegian immigrant civil engineer Joachim Goschen Giæver designed the structural framework for the Statue of Liberty. His work involved design computations, detailed fabrication and construction drawings, and oversight of construction. In completing his engineering for the statue's frame, Giæver worked from drawings and sketches produced by Gustave Eiffel. Fundraising in

4368-513: The Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain, were purchased by Brock Hotel Corporation in May 1985. The two pizza restaurant subsidiaries merged, forming ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. – a combination of the two previous company names. Following the merger, both restaurant chains continued to operate as separate entities. Richard M. Frank joined the company as president and chief operating officer in 1985. In 1986, he

4480-617: The French attempt to build the Panama Canal . The copper may have come from multiple sources and some of it is said to have come from a mine in Visnes , Norway, though this has not been conclusively determined after testing samples. According to Cara Sutherland in her book on the statue for the Museum of the City of New York , 200,000 pounds (91,000 kg) was needed to build the statue, and

4592-565: The French copper industrialist Eugène Secrétan donated 128,000 pounds (58,000 kg) of copper. Although plans for the statue had not been finalized, Bartholdi moved forward with fabrication of the right arm, bearing the torch, and the head. Work began at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop. In May 1876, Bartholdi traveled to the United States as a member of a French delegation to the Centennial Exhibition, and arranged for

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4704-458: 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. 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

4816-505: The New York committee commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design the pedestal. Within months, Hunt submitted a detailed plan, indicating that he expected construction to take about nine months. He proposed a pedestal 114 feet (35 m) in height; faced with money problems, the committee reduced that to 89 feet (27 m). Hunt's pedestal design contains elements of classical architecture, including Doric portals, as well as some elements influenced by Aztec architecture . The large mass

4928-467: The New York committee, Senator William M. Evarts . A French flag draped across the statue's face was to be lowered to unveil the statue at the close of Evarts's speech, but Bartholdi mistook a pause as the conclusion and let the flag fall prematurely. The ensuing cheers put an end to Evarts's address. President Cleveland spoke next, stating that the statue's "stream of light shall pierce the darkness of ignorance and man's oppression until Liberty enlightens

5040-555: The Park Service suggested that Laboulaye was minded to honor the Union victory and its consequences, "With the abolition of slavery and the Union's victory in the Civil War in 1865, Laboulaye's wishes of freedom and democracy were turning into a reality in the United States. In order to honor these achievements, Laboulaye proposed that a gift be built for the United States on behalf of France. Laboulaye hoped that by calling attention to

5152-487: The Rock-afire Explosion animatronic show from their restaurants and converting it into a new show called "Chuck E. Cheese & Munch's Make Believe Band", featuring characters from Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. Over the course of several years, ShowBiz Pizza locations were rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese's, effectively ending the "ShowBiz Pizza" brand within the restaurant storefront. In February 2014,

5264-479: The U.S. for the pedestal had begun in 1882. The committee organized a large number of money-raising events. As part of one such effort, an auction of art and manuscripts, poet Emma Lazarus was asked to donate an original work. She initially declined, stating she could not write a poem about a statue. At the time, she was also involved in aiding refugees to New York who had fled antisemitic pogroms in eastern Europe . These refugees were forced to live in conditions that

5376-739: The U.S. is the National Association of Family Entertainment Centers (NAFEC) , which is a division of the International Laser Tag Association (ILTA). Some U.S.-based companies also have venues in Canada (noted above), but this is rare due to the legal/political difficulties involved in cross-border corporations. North American FECs vary wildly in themes, size and features. Some of the larger businesses in this category have included: Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty ( Liberty Enlightening

5488-413: The United States in the late 19th and early 20th century; many entered through New York and saw the statue not as a symbol of enlightenment, as Bartholdi had intended, but as a sign of welcome to their new home. The association with immigration only became stronger when an immigrant processing station was opened on nearby Ellis Island. This view was consistent with Lazarus's vision in her sonnet—she described

5600-598: The World ; French : La Liberté éclairant le monde ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor , within New York City . The copper -clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France , was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel . The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue

5712-415: The World . The French people were to finance the statue (contrary to the common misconception of it being funded by the French national government); and Americans would be expected to pay for the pedestal. The announcement provoked a generally favorable reaction in France, though many Frenchmen resented the United States for not coming to their aid during the war with Prussia . French monarchists opposed

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5824-483: The arm proved popular in the exhibition's waning days, and visitors would climb up to the balcony of the torch to view the fairgrounds. After the exhibition closed, the arm was transported to New York City, where it remained on display in Madison Square Park for several years before it was returned to France to join the rest of the statue. During his second trip to the United States, Bartholdi addressed

5936-467: The bank, suspended work on the pedestal. With the project in jeopardy, groups from other American cities, including Boston and Philadelphia, offered to pay the full cost of erecting the statue in return for relocating it. Joseph Pulitzer , publisher of the New York World , a New York newspaper, announced a drive to raise $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 3,391,000 in 2023). Pulitzer pledged to print

6048-489: The chain's animatronics show, The Rock-afire Explosion . The first ShowBiz Pizza Place location opened to the public in Kansas City, Missouri , on March 3, 1980. By September 1981, there were 48 company-owned outlets and 42 franchises. The company's headquarters was moved the following year to Irving, Texas. Showbiz Pizza's primary rival, Pizza Time Theatre, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984. Its assets, including

6160-444: The classical Colossus of Rhodes as a frightening symbol, with the new "American colossus" as a "beacon to the lost and hopeless". Even with these efforts, fundraising lagged. Grover Cleveland , the governor of New York , vetoed a bill to provide $ 50,000 for the statue project in 1884. An attempt the next year to have Congress provide $ 100,000, sufficient to complete the project, also failed. The New York committee, with only $ 3,000 in

6272-451: The committee resumed work on the pedestal. France raised about $ 250,000 to build the statue, while the United States had to raise up to $ 300,000 to build the pedestal. On June 17, 1885, the French steamer Isère arrived in New York with the crates holding the disassembled statue on board. New Yorkers displayed their newfound enthusiasm for the statue. Two hundred thousand people lined the docks and hundreds of boats put to sea to welcome

6384-498: The company was purchased by Apollo Global Management for $ 1.3 billion. In December 2020, the company was sold to Monarch Alternative Capital after it emerged from its June bankruptcy that same year, and CEC Entertainment, Inc. was renamed to CEC Entertainment, LLC. Family entertainment center FECs are essentially a converged outgrowth of theme restaurants that increasingly developed their in-house amusement features, small-scale amusement parks needing more offerings than just

6496-437: The construction work. Construction on the 15-foot-deep (4.6 m) foundation began in 1883, and the pedestal's cornerstone was laid in 1884. In Hunt's original conception, the pedestal was to have been made of solid granite . Financial concerns again forced him to revise his plans; the final design called for poured concrete walls, up to 20 feet (6.1 m) thick, faced with granite blocks. This Stony Creek granite came from

6608-412: The copper skin and the iron support structure, Eiffel insulated the skin with asbestos impregnated with shellac . 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

6720-453: The copper skin to his proposed masonry pier. The following year, Bartholdi was able to obtain the services of the innovative designer and builder Gustave Eiffel . Eiffel and his structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin , decided to abandon the pier and instead build an iron truss tower. Eiffel opted not to use a completely rigid structure, which would force stresses to accumulate in the skin and lead eventually to cracking. A secondary skeleton

6832-604: The costs involved, and instead install off-the-shelf systems provided and maintained by industry equipment vendors. Any given FEC may lean more towards outdoor activities, arcade gaming, or passive entertainment and dining. Each may cater to different age ranges, all the time, or during certain hours, e.g., children and entire families in the daytime, and teens to young adults in the evening, with specific promotional programs to attract different market segments at different times. FECs tend to serve "sub-regional markets", such as small cities, quadrants or boroughs of larger cities, and

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6944-445: The crush of people. The restriction offended area suffragists , who chartered a boat and got as close as they could to the island. The group's leaders made speeches applauding the embodiment of Liberty as a woman and advocating women's right to vote. A scheduled fireworks display was postponed until November 1 because of poor weather. Shortly after the dedication, The Cleveland Gazette , an African American newspaper, suggested that

7056-478: 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

7168-760: The dome of the United States Capitol Building . The statue's design evokes iconography evident in ancient history including the Egyptian goddess Isis , the ancient Greek deity of the same name, the Roman Columbia and the Christian iconography of the Virgin Mary . Artists of the 18th and 19th centuries striving to evoke republican ideals commonly used representations of Libertas as an allegorical symbol. A figure of Liberty

7280-406: The fallout was due to a demand by Showbiz to own CEI's licensing and copyrights to the animatronics show. Fechter says he refused, since Showbiz did not offer monetary compensation for the rights. Despite the refusal, CEI's creative control was jeopardized, as ShowBiz had the ability to program the characters and replicate their voices, allowing them to make changes to the skits. ShowBiz later returned

7392-496: The figure with austere face and a strong, uncomplicated silhouette, which would be set off well by its dramatic harbor placement and allow passengers on vessels entering New York Bay to experience a changing perspective on the statue as they proceeded toward Manhattan. He gave it bold classical contours and applied simplified modeling, reflecting the huge scale of the project and its solemn purpose. Bartholdi wrote of his technique: The surfaces should be broad and simple, defined by

7504-480: The first widely recognized video game, Pong , headed a project in the mid-1970s for Atari to launch the first arcade-oriented, family restaurant with computer-programmed animatronics. At a time when arcades were popular in bowling alleys and bars, Bushnell sought to expose younger audiences to arcade games. In May 1977, Atari opened the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. The concept

7616-492: The foreigners here. Give me a chance to prove that I am worth it, to do something, to be someone in America." And always that statue was on my mind. The statue rapidly became a landmark. Originally, it was a dull copper color, but shortly after 1900 a green patina , also called verdigris , caused by the oxidation of the copper skin, began to spread. As early as 1902 it was mentioned in the press; by 1906 it had entirely covered

7728-586: The future governor of New York and president of the United States. On March 3, 1877, on his final full day in office, President Grant signed a joint resolution that authorized the President to accept the statue when it was presented by France and to select a site for it. President Rutherford B. Hayes , who took office the following day, selected the Bedloe's Island site that Bartholdi had proposed. On his return to Paris in 1877, Bartholdi concentrated on completing

7840-590: The head, which was exhibited at the 1878 Paris World's Fair . Fundraising continued, with models of the statue put on sale. Tickets to view the construction activity at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop were also offered. The French government authorized a lottery; among the prizes were valuable silver plate and a terracotta model of the statue. By the end of 1879, about 250,000 francs had been raised. The head and arm had been built with assistance from Viollet-le-Duc , who fell ill in 1879. He soon died, leaving no indication of how he intended to transition from

7952-464: The idea except to discuss it with Laboulaye. Bartholdi was in any event busy with other possible projects. In 1856, he traveled to Egypt to study ancient works. In the late 1860s, he approached Isma'il Pasha , Khedive of Egypt , with a plan to build Progress or Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia , a huge lighthouse in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah or peasant, robed and holding

8064-475: The idea of American liberty. In early American history, two female figures were frequently used as cultural symbols of the nation. One of these symbols, the personified Columbia , was seen as an embodiment of the United States in the manner that Britannia was identified with the United Kingdom, and Marianne came to represent France. Columbia had supplanted the traditional European Personification of

8176-464: The impression of violence in the Delacroix work, Bartholdi wished to give the statue a peaceful appearance and chose a torch, representing progress, for the figure to hold. Its second toe on both feet is longer than its big toe, a condition known as Morton's toe or 'Greek foot'. This was an aesthetic staple of ancient Greek art and reflects the classical influences on the statue. Crawford's statue

8288-462: The name of every contributor, no matter how small the amount given. The drive captured the imagination of New Yorkers, especially when Pulitzer began publishing the notes he received from contributors. "A young girl alone in the world" donated "60 cents, the result of self denial." One donor gave "five cents as a poor office boy's mite toward the Pedestal Fund." A group of children sent

8400-410: 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

8512-693: The outlines of the Statue and made it beautiful." The statue was painted only on the inside. The Corps of Engineers also installed an elevator to take visitors from the base to the top of the pedestal. On July 30, 1916, during World War I, German saboteurs set off a disastrous explosion on the Black Tom peninsula in Jersey City, New Jersey , in what is now part of Liberty State Park , close to Bedloe's Island. Carloads of dynamite and other explosives that were being sent to Russia for its war efforts were detonated. The statue sustained minor damage, mostly to

8624-487: The parade passed the New York Stock Exchange, traders threw ticker tape from the windows, beginning the New York tradition of the ticker-tape parade . A nautical parade began at 12:45 p.m., and President Cleveland embarked on a yacht that took him across the harbor to Bedloe's Island for the dedication. Lesseps made the first speech, on behalf of the French committee, followed by the chairman of

8736-462: The perseverance of American democracy and the liberation of the nation's slaves. The Franco-Prussian War delayed progress until 1875, when Laboulaye proposed that the people of France finance the statue and the United States provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The torch-bearing arm

8848-471: The procession, then stood in the reviewing stand to see bands and marchers from across America. General Stone was the grand marshal of the parade. The route began at Madison Square , once the venue for the arm, and proceeded to the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan by way of Fifth Avenue and Broadway , with a slight detour so the parade could pass in front of the World building on Park Row . As

8960-415: The project. As chief engineer, Viollet-le-Duc proposed designing a brick pier filled with sand within the statue up to the hips, with iron bars like veins of a leaf to which the skin would be anchored. After consultations with the metalwork foundry Gaget, Gauthier & Co., Viollet-le-Duc chose the metal which would be used for the skin, copper sheets, and the method used to shape it, repoussé , in which

9072-406: The recent achievements of the United States, the French people would be inspired to call for their own democracy in the face of a repressive monarchy." According to sculptor Bartholdi, who later recounted the story, Laboulaye's alleged comment was not intended as a proposal, but it inspired Bartholdi. Given the repressive nature of the regime of Napoleon III , Bartholdi took no immediate action on

9184-430: The recording rights to Fechter following CEI's Liberty Show production (in commemoration of the Statue of Liberty 's centennial in 1986), but they did not return the programming rights. In 1989, ShowBiz Pizza Time became a public company with its stock market launch . The following year, it severed all ties with CEI and began restructuring the restaurant chains under "Concept Unification". The change consisted of removing

9296-660: The rise in popularity of arcade games during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The type of animatronics used in the ShowBiz Pizza chain distinguished it from its rival, which offered many of the same services. When Pizza Time Theatre declared bankruptcy in 1984, ShowBiz merged with the struggling franchise to settle a former court settlement mandate, forming ShowBiz Pizza Time. Following a severing of ties with CEI in 1990, ShowBiz Pizza locations were rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese locations, which took several years to complete. Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell , responsible for creating

9408-471: The sheets were heated and then struck with wooden hammers. An advantage of this choice was that the entire statue would be light for its volume, as the copper need be only 0.094 inches (2.4 mm) thick. Bartholdi had decided on a height of just over 151 feet (46 m) for the statue, double that of Italy's Sancarlone and the German statue of Arminius , both made with the same method. By 1875, France

9520-417: The ship. After five months' daily calls to donate to the statue fund, on August 11, 1885, the World announced that $ 102,000 had been raised from 120,000 donors, and that 80 percent of the total had been received in sums of less than one dollar (equivalent to $ 34 in 2023). Even with the success of the fund drive, the pedestal was not completed until April 1886. Immediately thereafter, reassembly of

9632-483: The signing of the franchising agreement that the company's technology would continue to evolve. However, prior to the opening of his first location, Brock decided to void the agreement with Pizza Time and enter a partnership with CEI, forming ShowBiz Pizza Place, Inc., in December 1979. The Brock Hotel Corporation assumed 80% control of the company, while the remaining 20% stake went to Creative Engineering. CEI produced

9744-421: The site for the statue. Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail, and met many Americans whom he thought would be sympathetic to the project. But he remained concerned that popular opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal, and he and Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign. Bartholdi had made a first model of his concept in 1870. The son of

9856-456: The statue as "Mother of Exiles"—but her work had become obscure. In 1903, the sonnet was engraved on a plaque that was affixed to the base of the statue. Oral histories of immigrants record their feelings of exhilaration on first viewing the Statue of Liberty. One immigrant who arrived from Greece recalled: I saw the Statue of Liberty. And I said to myself, "Lady, you're such a beautiful! [ sic ] You opened your arms and you get all

9968-413: The statue began. Eiffel's iron framework was anchored to steel I-beams within the concrete pedestal and assembled. Once this was done, the sections of skin were carefully attached. Due to the width of the pedestal, it was not possible to erect scaffolding , and workers dangled from ropes while installing the skin sections. Bartholdi had planned to put floodlights on the torch's balcony to illuminate it;

10080-564: The statue's announced name. Initially focused on the elites, the Union was successful in raising funds from across French society. Schoolchildren and ordinary citizens gave, as did 181 French municipalities. Laboulaye's political allies supported the call, as did descendants of the French contingent in the American Revolutionary War . Less idealistically, contributions came from those who hoped for American support in

10192-514: The statue's torch not be lit until the United States became a free nation "in reality": "Liberty enlightening the world," indeed! The expression makes us sick. This government is a howling farce. It can not or rather does not protect its citizens within its own borders. Shove the Bartholdi statue, torch and all, into the ocean until the "liberty" of this country is such as to make it possible for an inoffensive and industrious colored man to earn

10304-674: The statue, allowing visitors to better appreciate Eiffel's design. In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt, once a member of the New York committee, ordered the statue's transfer to the War Department , as it had proved useless as a lighthouse. A unit of the Army Signal Corps was stationed on Bedloe's Island until 1923, after which military police remained there while the island was under military jurisdiction. Wars and other upheavals in Europe prompted large-scale emigration to

10416-476: The statue, if for no other reason than it was proposed by the liberal Laboulaye, who had recently been elected a senator for life . Laboulaye arranged events designed to appeal to the rich and powerful, including a special performance at the Paris Opera on April 25, 1876, that featured a new cantata by the composer Charles Gounod . The piece was titled La Liberté éclairant le monde , the French version of

10528-604: The statue. Bartholdi was initially uncertain of what to place in Liberty's left hand; he settled on a tabula ansata , used to evoke the concept of law. Though Bartholdi greatly admired the United States Constitution , he chose to inscribe JULY IV MDCCLXXVI on the tablet, thus associating the date of the country's Declaration of Independence with the concept of liberty. Bartholdi interested his friend and mentor, architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc , in

10640-417: The statue. Believing that the patina was evidence of corrosion, Congress authorized US$ 62,800 (equivalent to $ 2,130,000 in 2023) for various repairs, and to paint the statue both inside and out. There was considerable public protest against the proposed exterior painting. The Army Corps of Engineers studied the patina for any ill effects to the statue and concluded that it protected the skin, "softened

10752-400: The torch-bearing right arm, and was closed for ten days. The cost to repair the statue and buildings on the island was about $ 100,000 (equivalent to about $ 2,800,000 in 2023). The narrow ascent to the torch was closed for public-safety reasons, and it has remained closed ever since. That same year, Ralph Pulitzer , who had succeeded his father Joseph as publisher of the World , began

10864-408: The wealthy Lazarus had never experienced. She saw a way to express her empathy for these refugees in terms of the statue. The resulting sonnet , " The New Colossus ", including the lines "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", is uniquely identified with the Statue of Liberty in American culture and is inscribed on a plaque in its museum. Lazarus's poem contrasted

10976-400: 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. The foundation of Bartholdi's statue was to be laid inside Fort Wood ,

11088-443: The world". Bartholdi, observed near the dais, was called upon to speak, but he declined. Orator Chauncey M. Depew concluded the speechmaking with a lengthy address. No members of the general public were permitted on the island during the ceremonies, which were reserved entirely for dignitaries. The only women granted access were Bartholdi's wife and Lesseps's granddaughter; officials stated that they feared women might be injured in

11200-566: 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

11312-652: Was also depicted on the Great Seal of France . However, Bartholdi and Laboulaye avoided an image of revolutionary liberty such as that depicted in Eugène Delacroix 's famed Liberty Leading the People (1830). In this painting, which commemorates France's July Revolution , a half-clothed Liberty leads an armed mob over the bodies of the fallen. Laboulaye had no sympathy for revolution, and so Bartholdi's figure would be fully dressed in flowing robes. Instead of

11424-850: Was an immediate success, and Bushnell purchased the Pizza Time restaurant from Atari for $ 500,000 in 1978, stepping down as chairman and forming Pizza Time Theatre Inc. As Bushnell marketed the franchise, hoping to expand into new markets, the concept attracted high-profile clients such as Robert L. Brock , known for his extensive portfolio of Holiday Inn hotels. In 1979, Brock signed a multi-million-dollar franchising agreement with Pizza Time Theatre Inc., planning to open as many as 280 Chuck E. Cheese's locations across 16 states. Shortly thereafter, Brock noticed that companies such as Creative Engineering, Inc. (CEI) were designing more advanced animatronics, and he became concerned that competitors would emerge with better technology. Bushnell had reassured Brock at

11536-489: Was attached to the center pylon, then, to enable the statue to move slightly in the winds of New York Harbor, and, since the metal would expand on hot summer days, he loosely connected the support structure to the skin using flat iron bars or springs, which culminated in a mesh of metal straps, known as "saddles", that were riveted to the skin, providing firm support. In a labor-intensive process, each saddle had to be crafted individually. To prevent galvanic corrosion between

11648-494: Was designed in the early 1850s. It was originally to be crowned with a pileus or " liberty cap ", the cap given to emancipated slaves in ancient Rome. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis , a Southerner who would later serve as President of the Confederate States of America , was concerned that the pileus would be taken as an abolitionist symbol. He ordered that it be changed to a helmet. Delacroix's figure wears

11760-692: Was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer , of the New York World , started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than

11872-411: Was enjoying improved political stability and a recovering postwar economy. Growing interest in the upcoming Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia led Laboulaye to decide it was time to seek public support. In September 1875, he announced the project and the formation of the Franco-American Union as its fundraising arm. With the announcement, the statue was given a name, Liberty Enlightening

11984-543: Was familiar with the similar construction of the Vercingétorix monument by Aimé Millet ; the restoration of Millet's statue a century later called international attention to the Statue of Liberty's poor state. Copper was chosen over bronze or stone due to its lower cost, weight, and ease of transportation. Any large project was further delayed by the Franco-Prussian War , in which Bartholdi served as

12096-522: Was named chairman and chief executive officer of the restaurant division. Based on customer research, Frank instituted a number of changes to appeal to younger children and parents. Specific measures included increased lighting, a redesigned food menu, table service, self-serve fountain drinks, a revamped ride selection, and distinct toddler areas, but relations between ShowBiz and Creative Engineering began to deteriorate. Aaron Fechter , founder of CEI and creator of The Rock-afire Explosion, claimed in 2008 that

12208-432: 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

12320-646: Was one of the earliest widely known examples of these in the United States. Most FECs have at least five common major or "anchor" attractions, to provide diverse patrons (often in large parties) at least one to two hours of entertainment, to encourage repeat visits, and to reduce time spent waiting for any given attraction. Some of the more usual attractions include (depending upon size, climate, etc.): The most common anchor activities are miniature golf, kart racing, arcade and redemption games, and food & beverages, according to industry specialists StoneCreek Partners. FECs rarely use custom-built attractions, because of

12432-701: Was the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, California (1999–2006). Some nonprofit, educational installations, such as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, also have aspects of FECs in format and atmosphere, but with activities geared toward learning and experiencing rather than simple entertainment. Some for-profit enterprises also use this model, or mix edutainment with simpler amusement attractions. The main national industry group in

12544-662: Was the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, California , which opened in 1993, linking several Universal properties. Including various retail outlets, restaurants, and attractions, the CityWalk created a great deal of "sustained buzz" in the retail real estate industry, which began "embracing the notion that Universal Studios, Sony, Disney, and other entertainment companies could create new anchors and entertainment programs for shopping centers". Another significant UEC

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