Notre Dame’s restoration project is set to be completed on the fifth anniversary of the fire that damaged the structure in April 2019.
When will Notre Dame reopen?
The current reopening date is planned to take place on April 15, 2024, exactly five years after the damage was done.
In the spring of this year, locksmiths and glassmakers from all over France were selected to be a part of the restoring process.
CEO and manufacturer, Flavie Vincent-Petit was one of the chosen businesses asked to clean and restore the structure’s stained glass windows.
“(Notre Dame) represents all the French and European medieval culture of the Middle Ages and how finally all these European nations were built around a spiritual impulse,” Vincent-Petit said according to ABC News. “It is extremely positive to be able to participate in the reconstruction.”
What progress has been made on Notre Dame?
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, vowed that the structure would be restored after the devastating event took place in April 2019. Many people began donating funds, offering up time and resources to give to the project.
After gaining the necessary tools to make the project achievable, many worried that it in restoring the structure people would be attempting to “rebuild history,” according to the Washington Post.
Despite the concerns and with careful consideration of the individuals who would be working to rebuild the church, the restoration project is now well underway.
The project was set to begin in June of 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic halted the process, according to Friends of Notre Dame Paris.
ABC News reported that the restoration project picked back up in October 2021 in a secret location near Paris, where experts are at work restoring the items that were damaged.
The beginning stages of restoring the spire vaults and scaffolding have recently begun while interior of the structure has mostly been restored according to EuroNews.