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French Senate votes to rebuild Notre Dame exactly as it was

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Zelda Caldwell - published on 05/29/19
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The legislation would eliminate the possibility of President Macron’s proposal for “an inventive reconstruction of the cathedral.”The French Senate voted to ensure that Notre-Dame de Paris be rebuilt to look just as it did before the April 15 fire that destroyed its roof and spire.

The Senate bill, passed on May 27, would require that the cathedral be restored to its “last known visual state.” The bill also stipulates that restoration must “recreate Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s spire, and that any use of new materials will need to be justified,” reported Dezeen.com.

After the fire broke out last month, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the cathedral would be rebuilt “even more beautifully,” and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced an international competition to design a new spire, telling reporters:

“As is often the case in the evolution of heritage, we should endow Notre-Dame with a new spire.”

The legislation, which still must be reconciled with the bill passed the French National Assembly, also removed language in the lower house’s bill which would have allowed the government to override planning and historic preservation regulations.

Since the French government opened its competition, playful reimaginings of Notre Dame have gone viral on social media, as pictured below.

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