Some Parisians have reacted negatively to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s plans to maintain the Olympic rings atop the Eiffel Tower, which have been denounced by the descendants of designer Gustave Eiffel.
During the Olympic Games in Paris from July 28 to August 11, visitors and tourists found the enormous rings to be a popular addition to the monument. However, the original rings are too heavy to stay on the monument, so Hidalgo declared that she planned to remove them and replace them with new ones.
Criticizing her plan, the Association of Gustave Eiffel’s Descendants said: “It does not seem appropriate to us that the Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of Paris and the whole of France since its construction 135 years ago, has the symbol of an outside organization added to it in a permanent way, whatever its prestige.”
The association’s head, Olivier Berthelot-Eiffel, who is Eiffel’s great-great-grandson, said that the family had no issue with the rings remaining past the Paralympic Games, which end on September 8. He remarked: “But the Eiffel Tower should not become an advertising outpost. Anne Hidalgo should have said that she wanted to keep the Olympic rings, not that she had decided on it, and then discussed the idea with the Paris council and relevant individuals.”
The plan was also questioned by Culture Minister Rachida Dati, a critic of Hidalgo, who stated that the Socialist city leader would have to adhere to regulations safeguarding ancient structures.
Dati said in a statement: “The Eiffel Tower is a protected monument, the work of an immense engineer and designer…Protections for its architectural merit and his work require authorisations and an impact study before any major modifications can be carried out, in line with the law on protected buildings.”
Source: CNA