Paris begins race to finish Notre Dame restoration for 2024 games

The cathedral has been declared secure from the risk of further damage from the fire that nearly destroyed it two years ago.

Scaffolding in place for work to begin on Notre-Dame later this month. Picture: AFP

Teams of craftsmen have begun a 33-month race against the clock to restore Notre Dame Cathedral after it was declared secure from the risk of further damage from the fire that nearly destroyed it two years ago.

“Now we are going to be able to work on the monument, so we’re moving on to the active and positive phase,” Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect in charge of the Gothic cathedral, said. “Until now, we have been working so that it did not fall down, making sure that everything was safe.”

Jean-Louis Georgelin, the former army chief appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to lead the project, said he was confident his team would meet the deadline of April 2024 for the first mass before the Olympic Games in Paris. He brushed off criticism from architects who believe the deadline — set by Mr Macron the day after the fire in April 2019 — is unrealistic. “We are going to make it,” Mr Georgelin said. “We have to make it because the honour of France depends on it.”

The past year and a half has been devoted to shoring up fragile masonry, removing hundreds of tonnes of melted scaffolding, dismantling the organ and covering the gaping hole left after the roof went up in flames along with the 19th-century wood and lead spire. Workers also had to deal with cumbersome safety procedures to protect them from the hundreds of tonnes of toxic lead dust that settled after the fire.

Later this month, work on cleaning the blackened interior walls will begin while masons will start to repair the stone-vaulted ceiling. Carpenters and engineers are also preparing to build the base over the transept for a replica of the destroyed spire, which was designed by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.

Mr Macron ordered the simple replica last year after a negative worldwide reaction to his initial proposal to add a modern touch to mark the cathedral restoration, in the same way as Viollet-le-Duc had added a Gothic-style spire of his own design. His 20-year-long renovation, which ended in 1864, drew criticism that it was unfaithful to the original.

Some 1000 oak trees have been felled around France for use in the new charpente, the intricate roof framework. The restoration is keeping as close as possible to medieval methods following decisions to eschew modern materials and technology used in other ­cathedral renovations.

The restored edifice will be even more magnificent than before the fire, Mr Georgelin told Le Parisien newspaper. “The walls will have a real resurrection. Their splendour will be restored to the chapels of Notre Dame. The cath­edral will be dazzling,” he said.

The restoration work will be paid for by the €845m ($1.37bn) in donations pledged from around the world in the days after the fire. Separate donations are being sought by the Friends of Notre Dame de Paris association to restore the cathedral’s gargoyles, statues and paintings.

Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the fire, but officials suspect either an electrical short-circuit or a cigarette butt left on scaffolding.

The Times