Following the Money after the 2019 Fire

By Raven Navarro

Nearly the entire world stopped and stared at the live footage of Notre Dame drowning in flames. I remember it being a warm April afternoon. I just walked into my parents' home when my dad came running to the door, overwhelmed with worry. As I followed him into the living room, the saturated red and orange flames filled the television screen. It is one of those historical events that everyone can tell you precisely what they were doing when they heard the news. That standstill moment in time had not passed when thoughts of money and donations filled the air. With Notre Dame enveloped in fire, people pledged millions to the cathedral in order to pay for the needed repairs. So, where is the money?

Restoration work at Notre-Dame, February 2018.  Chabe01, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Before the incident, Notre Dame was covered in scaffolding and receiving a well-deserved facelift to its exterior. The French government already spends over $2 million every year on the cathedral’s upkeep. The amount needed to fund the desired repairs of the deteriorating cathedral exceeded 75 times as much as the government has already contributed. The goal was to raise the money needed for restoration from the love and admiration of the people of France and the United States. Therefore, when the fire struck during the $150 million spruce up, the need for new sources of funding was real.

Removing debris from the interior of Notre-Dame.  Ministère de la Culture, CC BY-SA 3.0 FR <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/fr/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

Due to the fire, many new issues have presented themselves, on top of the preexisting architectural issues that were being worked on at the time of the tragedy. The previous $150 million was being used toward repairs on the foundation, on statues around the cathedral, and on the overall structure. Most obviously, the fire left a gaping hole in the roof of the cathedral. It also melted the scaffolding that was in place and released a few hundred tons of lead into the air. An estimated amount of $330 million to $670 million (before taxes) is needed to fix what the flames destroyed. This amount came from a French economist working through Untec (a National Union of Construction Economists). Donations of approximately $1 billion were quickly pledged at the time of the fire, but most have not seen the light of day.

Bernald Arnault. nicogenin, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Immediately following the fire, the wealthy people of France pledged millions of dollars to Paris’ central icon. Bernald Arnault, the CEO of the company that houses brands such as Louis Vuitton, pledged a whopping sum of $224 million towards the needed efforts. However, it took six months for a check to be signed over and that check only contained a portion of the pledged amount (approximately $11.2 million). This partial payment was intended to provide a secure reconstruction sight, including a brand-new scaffolding, for future restoration. Alongside that pledge, Francois Pinault, chairman of Kering (a luxury goods company), promised to donate $100 million. At this point, no checks have been written. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the owner of L’Oreal cosmetics, pledged a $112 million donation. To date, she has not officially donated any funds.

Disneyland Paris.  Sean MacEntee from Monaghan, Ireland, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Companies and groups also made pledges that have not been realized. Total, an energy company in France, pledged nearly $120 million and is said to have contributed just 20% of that donation. Likewise Walt Disney, which has a theme park just outside Paris, pledged approximately $6 million that is still to be donated. By contrast, the Notre Dame Foundation (1 of 4 official charities put in charge of collecting donations on behalf of the cathedral), has received almost $43 million from 46,000 individual donations, 60 businesses, and 29 municipalities (cities or towns). Americans gathered $2.45 million in donations for the cathedral by way of the French Heritage Society.

An additional challenge with the wealthy donors has been their desire to control how their donations are spent. They are very specific on not wanting to fund the salaries of the employees needed for the repairs and only wanting to donate money towards construction and not the clean-up needed to begin that restoration. The Bettencourt Family (L’Oreal) stated they want to make sure the usage of the money promised aligns with their “foundation’s ethos.” In defense of the wealthy French public figures, Oliver de Challus (one of the cathedral’s expert architects) stated a plethora of uncertainties behind the construction. De Challus tried to explain that perhaps the unpredictability of it all has worried the donors. However, in the end, it just sounds as though donors want their money to go to the “long-lasting structures” and want nothing to do with lending a hand in the health risks that many Parisians face.

Notre-Dame on fire.  Baidax, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Luck has continued to go against Notre-Dame as the Coronavirus pandemic has restricted all further reconstruction. This global epidemic may even have played a part in the lack of donations from the wealthy that pledged millions. Nevertheless, the flames that caused people worldwide to come to a halt also fueled these donors to come to Notre Dame's rescue. If this sudden call to action was led by wholehearted intention and not a chance to look good on Twitter, Notre Dame and its charity foundations would have received a higher percentage of donations. Albeit plans have not been finalized, but clean-up and health hazards from the melted lead need to be addressed. Nearly $1 billion shows the undying love people around the world hold for the sacred church. The hope now is that a pledge is not as far as the love goes.