Big step for Notre Dame
2 years after blaze, cathedral safe enough to begin fix
More than two years after a massive fire raged through Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, the building is finally secure and stable — and ready for renovation, officials said Saturday.
Work is set to begin in the coming months.
The government agency that oversees Notre Dame’s reconstruction announced the phase of securing and consolidating the French gothic cathedral has been completed, French cable news channel BFM TV reported.
A team that included carpenters, scaffolding experts, organ mechanics and even professional climbers, participated in the effort, which began the day after the fire.
On April 15, 2019, a disastrous blaze engulfed the cathedral, damaging much of its structure.
Shortly after the fire, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rebuild the beloved Paris landmark, a symbol of national pride — and quickly.
“We will rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years. We can do it,” Macron said at the time.
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the organization responsible for the restoration, told BFM TV, “We’re officially saying that the cathedral is now saved, that it’s solid on its pillars, that its walls are solid.”
“We’ll be able to firmly go ahead with the phase of restoring and rebuilding the parts destroyed by the fire, so that it’s ready to reopen for services and public visits in 2024,” he added.
The reconstruction phase will begin after a bidding process to select companies that will take part in the effort.
Work to restore the organ should begin in the fall, and other projects are expected to begin in the winter, according to a statement.
Paris is scheduled to host the 2024 Olympics, and French officials are hoping to have the work completed before it begins that July.