Notre Dame, which suffered severe fire damage in 2019, is set to reopen in December 2024 after undergoing extensive repairs.

Notre Dame Set to Reopen | eTN | 2023 (eturbonews.com)

The head of the organization overseeing Notre Dame’s reconstruction revealed plans for a unique fire protection system to be installed before the cathedral’s reopening next year.

“All precautions have been taken for a complete rethink of its fire protection,” Philippe Jost, president of the Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris public body, told a parliamentary commission.

Notre Dame will have a unique vaporization system installed beneath the roof and spire, designed to swiftly contain any potential fire outbreaks, marking a pioneering safety measure for French cathedrals, according to Jost, the overseeing authority.

President Emmanuel Macron pledged that the restoration of Notre Dame would meet the December 2024 reopening deadline, having previously aimed to finish the project within five years, aligning with the Paris Olympics originally.

Facing initial challenges in the reconstruction, President Macron revised the project’s timeline. The restoration of the UNESCO-listed Notre Dame, previously drawing 12 million annual visitors, encountered various obstacles since the world witnessed the steeple’s collapse in the fire on April 15, 2019.

Jost anticipated Notre Dame would draw approximately 14 million annual visitors upon reopening. The new spire, now visible on Paris’s skyline, is projected to be finished by the time the city hosts the Olympics.

Over five years after the fire at Notre Dame, ongoing investigations by judges continue to explore the cause. Initial findings suggested the likelihood of an accidental origin, citing possibilities such as an electrical fault or a discarded cigarette as potential theories.