© Zuffe
Notre-Dame cathedral will reopen at the same time as the Paris Olympics
The French culture minister, Rima Abdul-Malak, announced this week that Notre-Dame Cathedral, which is undergoing a massive €846 million ($865 million) reconstruction after being ravaged by a massive fire in April 2019, will reopen in 2024 to coincide with the Olympic Games in Paris—timing that will undoubtedly draw the attention of the world to the city of lights. "We're all quite confident that 2024 will be the year of completing a large part of this reconstruction site and reopening the cathedral to worshippers and the public, although there will be more work to do after 2024, of course," the culture minister told a journalist from the French daily Le Figaro, wearing a white construction helmet.
This is an "extremely complex" operation
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the army chief appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron to oversee reconstruction, and Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of France's national monuments, accompanied Abdul-Malak to the site. Standing inside the maze of interior scaffolding, she explained that the cathedral's reconstruction required the close coordination of all parties involved because it was a "extremely complex" operation. The Covid-19 pandemic and lead dust contamination in the aftermath of the fire slowed reconstruction. Nonetheless, Abdul-Malak stated that progress was being made in accordance with Georgelin's schedule.
Notre-Dame on fire © GodefroyParis
Reconstruction costs would amount to 550 million euros
In an interview with Le Figaro earlier this week, Georgelin revealed that the reconstruction costs would total €550 million, with the remainder going toward non-urgent repairs after the cathedral reopened..
Bernard Arnault gave 200 million euros for the reconstruction
"Over 340,000 patrons and donors from 150 countries have contributed over €846 million since April 15, 2019," Georgelin said. The sum includes €200 million from LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault and €100 million from François Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering and owner of Christie's.
The first stage of consolidation and securing was completed in August 2021
The first stage of work, which included building consolidation and security and was completed in August 2021, cost €150 million. The cost of the second stage, restoration, is estimated to be €550 million. The high cost includes cleaning the cathedral's interior, grand organ (including 8,000 pipes and 19 wind chests), masonry, vaults, framework, and spire, among other things. The remaining €146 million would be used to restore the exterior, according to Georgelin, though no timetable has been set.
The arrow should start appearing soon
Specialized companies from all over France have been hired to handle various aspects of the restoration. In an atelier in Essonne, near Paris, 22 large-format paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries were restored last October. The 315-foot spire will be reinstalled next. Scaffolding weighing 600 tons will be erected in September. The 2,000 oak tree pieces required to restore the spire, transept, and adjacent spans will be assembled in carpenters' workshops before being transported to Notre-Dame in early 2023. The spire's support stool will be installed in the first half of 2023, and the spire should begin to appear in the Paris skyline soon after.
Selena Mattei