UPDATE, December 12: Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is on track to reopen to the public on December 8, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron announced exactly one year before that date.
The 96-meter (315-foot) spire has been reconstructed to look just as it did before a fire in 2019 caused extensive damage to the church, leading to its closure.
According to Macron, when the structure reopens late next year, there will be a Notre-Dame museum onsite as well as six new stained-glass windows designed by artists to be chosen in a contest.
Also still left to be done, per Reuters: waterproofing the oak roof with lead and reinstalling the cathedral's furnishings, statues, artwork, and organ.
For more context on the project, see the below post, originally published March 6.
The world-famous Notre-Dame de Paris will reopen to visitors more than 5 years after a devastating conflagration decimated the structure and shocked the world.
The cathedral, which first began construction in 1163, will welcome tourists again in December 2024, a little late to greet the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, but in time to meet the bold deadline set by French President Emmanuel Macron in the immediate aftermath of the April 2019 fire.
The announcement was made by French officials.
The army general in charge of the restoration project, Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, told the Associated Press that the mighty 1859 spire that collapsed in the fire will be replaced, with signs of its construction becoming evident starting this year.
"My job is to be ready to open this cathedral in 2024. And we will do it," Gen. Georgelin said. "We are fighting every day for that and we are on a good path."
On March 7, a free exhibition about the restoration of the landmark, which is being undertaken using the same medieval methods and materials that originally built the icon, opens to visitors in an underground space in front of the cathedral.
The laborious and meticulously planned reconstruction project has been well-documented by several television programs, including PBS's Nova (membership required to watch) and on the U.K.'s BBC Two (click here to watch).
