Notre Dame restoration halts due to virus
PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral stands crippled and alone, locked in a dangerous web of warped scaffolding one year after a cataclysmic fire gutted its interior, toppled its famous spire and horrified the world.
Some of the 40,000 metal bars — erected for an earlier renovation project — melted in the intense blaze on April 15, 2019. The unstable scaffolding now endangers the Gothic jewel that for many embodies the soul of France.
The restoration of the landmark from the 12th and 13th centuries has been halted and the workers sent home because of France’s coronavirus lockdown that began March 17, thwarting plans to start removing the 250 tons of scaffolding.
So even Notre Dame has been left in isolation by the pandemic that has affected so many people across France.
The 13-ton bell in the south tower, named Emmanuel, that traditionally rings on solemn occasions will sound at 8 p.m. Wednesday, joining the nightly rounds of applause for overstretched health workers.
On Good Friday, Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit led an exceptional but tiny gathering inside the church, at the foot of the huge golden cross that remains intact.
“Today, we stand in this half-fallen cathedral to say that life is still here,” Aupetit said in the televised ceremony.
The gathering in the fragile church was meant to raise the spirits of a nation in distress.
“The message of hope is especially important for our compatriots at a time when we are particularly affected by the coronavirus, which is sowing anguish and death,” the archbishop told reporters.
There was no Easter service and no formal plans to mark the anniversary of the fire. But the musicians of Notre Dame have created a virtual homage to their beloved cathedral with a performance from their homes of an extract of J.S. Bach’s “St. John Passion.”
“As long as we have this scaffolding around, there’s still sort of a 50% chance that more damage can be (caused) to the cathedral,” said Notre Dame chaplain Brice de Malherbe, who last year was evacuated from his home next door as flames engulfed the roof.
He recalled his worst moment that night: “When one had the impression that the fire was (subsiding) and suddenly it resumed in one of the towers.”
Yet, Notre Dame remained standing, still surveying the French capital from the island in the Seine, its two familiar bell towers partially eaten from within by flames but their heavy stones apparently only blackened on the outside.
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated Wednesday his desire to see the cathedral reopen its giant doors in time for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“We will do everything to keep this deadline,” he said in a tweeted video, thanking firefighters and rescue workers for extinguishing the blaze and saving lives.
Notre Dame “is a symbol of our resilience, our capacity to overcome challenges and stand aright,” Macron said.
But progress has been delayed by setbacks, from the discovery of toxic dust from the melted lead roof and spire to the health and safety demands of the pandemic.
Officials hope the scaffolding can be removed by the fall. Then, stones must be analyzed to see which need to be replaced. Debris and huge ancient beams that burned like kindling must be cleared from the soaring vaults, Malherbe said. An umbrella structure will then be built to protect the site, which is now surrounded by high barricades.