Now that I'm finally catching up on several days worth of news feeds from the States, it is coming to my attention that the Eiffel Tower may once again be the subject of some controversy over its design.
Of course it's well known that when it was first built for the Universal Exhibition in 1889, Parisians generally seemed to disapprove of la Tour Eiffel, which was supposed to be a temporary structure but later remained intact. When the sparkling light show was added a few years ago, glittering for 10 minutes every hour on the hour, Parisians sniffed at the display as being in bad taste. Now perhaps they have a new reason to call their national symbol (love it or hate it) "hideous".
The New York Times reported on Monday that:
"The Societe Nouvelle d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, the company that manages the landmark, has decided to temporarily “restructure the public reception and access areas of the tower” as part of celebrations marking the 120th anniversary..."
The source of this announcement was the architectural firm who conceived the image on the right (source: NY Times) according to the U.K.'s Guardian. The article in the Times goes on to say that the plan would be for the top observation deck to be altered in such a way that would NOT change the original structure, the idea being to provide more space for the anticipated surge in crowds during the anniversary year. Other news reports call the design a "mushroom cap" -- a dig, perhaps, at the French love of the almighty champignon?
The problem with this report is that it may be completely false. Either the Times got their information wrong (from the Guardian or other sources they may have used), or the powers that be at the Eiffel are trying to hide this decision for the moment, because since the initial report came out, several updates were posted at the Times web site as they back-pedaled to say that (1) the design had not been officially confirmed, (2) the Eiffel officials denied the Guardian's entire report, (3) the architectural firm took back their official announcement but maintained they were still a candidate even while the Eiffel people claim no such competition exists!
So make of it what you will, and because I am not yet making a habit of reading the French press it's possible this story has already been spun in another direction by the locals. (If you've got an update, please post a comment with links to other sources.) What I WILL say is, I actually really like the twinkling lights and hope they keep them, but if they try to turn the Eiffel Tower into a tacky rendition of Seattle's Space Needle then I will be among the protesters calling it "hideous" and may march in my first manifestation. All that construction and money spent, just to make way for more tourists for a YEAR? It doesn't seem reasonable. But that doesn't stop change, sometimes, as we all know.
And I wish these news outlets would get their facts bloody well straight (and stop regurgitating other news sources lax reporting) before they open their big mouths. This is how rumors get started and how presidential races get tainted before they're even finished.
