Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor . . . Hey How Much Is That Armoir?

Posing in front of a replica of the Statue of Liberty is, from left, Jeremy Johnson and Pasquale “Pat” Civitella and his son Tony. The statue was unveiled in front of Roosevelt Tower Antiques & Salvage, Civitella’s business is at 253 Roosevelt Drive.

DERBY — The Statue of Liberty welcomes immigrants coming to America to start a new life and now a replica of the famous statue will welcome travelers along Roosevelt Drive to Roosevelt Tower Antiques & Salvage in Derby.

On Thursday morning a crane lifted the 850-pound statue and set it down on a concrete platform in front of the building.

I’ve been working on getting a big piece to bring attention to the area for a couple of years,” said Pasquale Pat” Civitella, owner of the antique shop. At first I thought of a giant dinosaur or a 30-foot Paul Bunyan.”

But then Civitella got the idea of displaying the Statue of Liberty from flipping through a catalogue. The Statue of Liberty is known worldwide,” he said. You don’t have to explain it.”

Civitella said he hopes the 14-foot-tall statue will attract people to his property at 253 Roosevelt Drive, where they can pose in front of it for photos and visit his shop, which is open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

But it’s not just a business gimmick.

Civitella’s living the American dream.

He was born in Caserta, a small town north of Naples, Italy.

He was six-years-old 50 years ago, when his parents, Antonio and Gina, emigrated to America with he and his sister, Filomena.

Civitella’s mother used to work at a dress shop that was part of the complex at 253 Roosevelt Drive in the 80s and Civitella, who made his money as an entrepreneur, later purchased the property.

The American dream is alive and well as long as you’re willing to work hard in this great country,” he said.

While the U.S. received its statue as a gift from France, Civitella’s was manufactured by a company in China and shipped overseas. It is made with fiberglass with a steel enforced interior.

Civitella had never arranged for an overseas shipment before. It didn’t sound pleasant.

It was a big fiasco,” he said. I hired a broker out of California, then had to pick it up at a port in New Jersey. When containers come in, you have 48 hours to pick it up before you’re hit with $200 to $300 a day in fees.”

Civitella said he was not aware of that, so his broker took care of it. He drove one of his box truck’s to the port around three months ago, then used a Bobcat to lift it out of the truck.

When she got here, I said we’d put her up in a week,”Civitella chuckled. It was a couple months.”

Crushed stone, 20 inches deep, was put down and a 2,000-pound concrete pad, reinforced with rebar, was built on top of it.

Charles J. Dickgiesser & Co., a metal works business next door, manufactured the plates to which Civitella’s son, Tony, screwed the base of the statue onto the pad.

We put a lot of work into this statue,” Tony said.

A Quick Pick Crane Service Inc., a Derby company, provided the crane. 

This is my first Statue of Liberty,” said Paul Marcati Jr., the crane operator. It’s not every day you get to set Lady Liberty.”

A few onlookers watched the Civitellas set up the statue, including Chuck Doll of Wallingford.

It’s something you don’t see every day,” Doll said. The American pride is coming back. Putting it up, standing tall, that’s nice.”

It’s going to be fun to see it,” Jackie Hicks, of Ansonia, said moments before the unveiling. There are a lot of us who can’t get to the Statue of Liberty. This is as close as I’m ever going to get to it.”

Pasquale and Tony Civitella used a ladder and a box cutter to remove the covering off the statue, while Jeremy Johnson, the store manager, shot video and narrated the unveiling.

A spike in the statue’s crown had broken off along its journey to Derby, but Tony expressed confidence they can glue it back on.

The torch reached into the blue sky Thursday, showing a strong resemblance to the copper Statue of Liberty that has greeted immigrants entering the country via New York Harbor for over 100 years.

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