Last April 15 Frenchmen,
particularly Parisians, along with art and architecture lovers around the world
were symbolically wounded. That was the day when the Notre Dame de Paris
cathedral caught fire and suffered notable damage while in the middle of renovation.
The aftermath of this grave if incomplete tragedy led to France come together
in response to the brave call of President Emmanuel Macron to join hands in
rebuilding the centuries-old cathedral and Paris landmark. Quite the number of
French billionaires has pledged donations amounting to at least a billion
dollars in worth. But come July, such funds promised for restoration have yet
to materialize.
CBS News has it that several affluent members of French society
that made pledges of funding to restore the fire damage incurred by Notre Dame
de Paris months ago have yet to actually deliver on their promises of millions
of dollars in pledges. The spoken donors in question are listed on the
Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, many of whom have increased their wealth as of
the end of December in the previous year. The scions of France’s top brands
like LVMH and L’Oreal have pledged between them some €300 million ($336 million) for
Notre Dame. So far, only LVMH has given €10 million ($11.2 million) funds.
The reluctance of the major
pledgers to actually present their announced donations is attributed by Notre
Dame senior press official Andre Pinot to a cautious mindset. The donors
according to him want to see first, in detail, how exactly their money will be
utilized. Unfortunately each potential benefactor is also interested in seeing
their sponsorship being used to reconstruct features in the cathedral that were
lost in the fire. Currently the restoration effort is focused on removing any health-risk
materials from the site, like the lead roof linings that have melted in the
April fire.
Although a complete assessment of
the damages and losses in the Notre Dame de Paris fire have yet to be
finalized, it is known that several artworks, relics and fixtures have been
removed during the original renovation works. Some portions of the roof
collapsed, but miraculously installations like two pipe organs the 13th
Century Gothic rose windows were spared from destruction. Notre Dame tour guide
Olivier de Challus notes that actual architectural considerations for the
cathedral renovations might not happen until late in 2020, and that the whole
reconstruction might last two decades or more.
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