The centuries-old Notre Dame Cathedral may not yet be safe from ruin, despite efforts from architects, the government of France, and the millions of dollars in donations that has come pouring in, Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect in the massive project to restore the historic structure, is warning.
Villeneuve lead France 24 on a rarely granted tour thorugh the Cathedral and the devastation that remains shows the effects of the April 15 fire that threatned to burn the church to the ground still remain after months of work.
The cathedral's roof, where the fire began after a construction worker dropped a cigarette onto old woodwork, remains open and is not structurally sound, but the remnants must stay to keep more of the church from collapsing.
"If we remove the burned wood and the pieces of the framing that burned, and the metal elements that accumulated since April 15, we don't know what will happen," Villeneuve commented about the structure's roof. "So today, we absolutely cannot say that Notre-Dame has been saved."
The network reported there is a "quiet stillness" inside Notre Dame, and because of the holes in the roof, "it rains inside the church."
The network also showed tents that remain in front of the cathedral to protect what items have been rescued and are awaiting restoration.
In October, France24 reported a steel structure in place to support the roof is now twisted, and experts are saying they do not know if taking down the roof and the structure will cause further problems.
French Culture Minister Franck Riester has said several more months of conservation work is needed at the cathedral before rebuliding can begin.
"For us, the top priority is to do a quality restoration that captures the height of what our history represents for our country, for Paris, for the Catholic religion, for Notre Dame," he added, but the government has not decided if the roof will be rebuilt to resemble its traditional look or if it will be changed to look more modern.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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