Anne Hidalgo, in Paris on July 24, 2023 (AFP/Archives/JULIEN DE ROSA)
The PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo refused Thursday to request the classification as historical monuments of the Eiffel Tower, a proposal from the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, her main opponent in the Paris Council.
“No, I’m not going to ask,” assured the elected socialist on TF1.
The Iron Lady, the emblem of Paris inaugurated for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, has only been listed in the inventory of historic monuments since 1964, which offers a lower level of protection.
Anne Hidalgo recalled that it was “André Malraux, the greatest Minister of Culture, apart from Jack Lang, who himself had rejected this idea of the classification”.
Ms. Hidalgo asked Ms. Dati “that she pay her dues” because the State “still owes 1.4 million euros for the work on the Eiffel Tower,” according to her.
The tower, owned by the town hall which delegates management to its operating company (Sete), “is better protected with what we do there: we are investing more than 360 million euros” on the The entire current public service delegation contract, she recalled.
Last week, Rachida Dati pleaded for the Eiffel Tower to be classified as a historic monument to allow the State “if necessary to undertake work automatically”.
The process can be launched by the City of Paris, by the services of the prefecture or the Ministry of Culture.
Ms Dati raised the subject while the tower was closed to tourists due to a six-day strike. The union criticized the town hall for unsustainable financial management and shortcomings in the maintenance of the monument.
If its designer Gustave Eiffel recommended, to avoid rust, repainting the tower “every seven years”, the tower has not had a complete repainting since 2010.
A renovation campaign launched in 2019 has not yet been completed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and unforeseen additional costs after the discovery of traces of lead.
© 2024 AFP
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