In Paris, at the foot of Notre-Dame, the gardens of discord

At the foot of the cathedral, which is still under construction, four years after the spectacular fire of April 2019, another project awaits its turn: the repair of the forecourt, its basement and the squares bordering this masterpiece of the gothic art.

It is only after the reopening of the monument to the public, scheduled for the end of 2024, that this redevelopment desired by the town hall of Paris must begin, for a budget of 50 million euros, in agreement with the State and the diocese.

The project selected at the end of June 2022, that of the Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets, aims to develop the green spaces around the cathedral, to give the forecourt the appearance of a "clearing".

But an online petition, which has collected nearly 50.000 signatures since the end of April, demands that the two squares located to the east of the cathedral be "restored identically", while Bas Smets intends to unify them to create "a large continuous square".

One of the oldest in the capital (1844), the square Jean-XXIII offered before the fire an idyllic view of the bedside with its Davioud benches, its rows of lime trees and its bandstand... Occupied by the construction site buildings of reconstruction, it is unrecognizable today.

The planned removal of the grids and the replacement of the flower bed by an accessible lawn for "picnics and games" concentrate most of the criticism against the project, planned for 2027.

"Pavlovian conservatism"

"With a distorted setting, Notre-Dame will lose its soul", fears Baptiste Gianeselli, the author of the petition, who explains that he wants to "defend the city that (he) loves and the heritage".

"Truly Pavlovian conservatism", retorts the first socialist deputy to the town hall of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, for whom "with these same arguments, there would be neither the Eiffel Tower, nor Pei's pyramid in the Louvre, nor the Center Pompidou, or even all of Haussmann's heritage".

"You can't keep everything the same. The square must be open", agrees the mayor of Paris Center, Ariel Weil, also a socialist.

The controversy took a national turn.

Associations regularly opposed to the city's projects, as well as Stéphane Bern, a famous television host committed to the defense of heritage, asked in an open letter to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo to favor "the simple restoration of the square".

The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, to whom ambitions for the capital are attributed with a view to the municipal elections of 2026, castigated an "incomprehensible attack" on the gardens of Notre-Dame even though the State was present. in the competition jury.

On May 11, the National Commission for Heritage and Architects (CNPA), whose opinion is merely advisory, approved the project but on four conditions, including maintaining the grid of the square.

Assuming his withdrawal with "maintenance guarantees" for the future lawn, Emmanuel Grégoire reminds AFP of the need to "adapt the city to global warming".

"Parisian Identity"

As for the historic furniture, another reserve of the CNPA which asks to respect "the Parisian identity" of the square, it "will be reinstalled" after the end of the construction site, assures Emmanuel Grégoire.

In 2022, Anne Hidalgo had to give up her project to repair the surroundings of the Eiffel Tower, which involved the felling of around twenty trees, in front of the media breakthrough of these same associations.

"The earlier we intervene, the more likely we are to roll back the project", underlines Alexis Boniface, of the National Tree Monitoring Group (GNSA), worried about the "5-6 remarkable trees" which could be cut down around Our -Lady.

"No tree should be cut and we must plant 150 more trees", replies Emmanuel Grégoire, underlining the "binding and demanding dialogue" imposed on him by the State services on a site classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. .