The Louvre Museum risks having to close its doors to the public unless lawmakers approve a major overhaul of the creaking and over-capacity institution, the museum director told a French newspaper Wednesday.
Speaking to Le Figaro, Christophe Leribault said that the museum intended to tap private sources of funding for its transformation, but that a major injection of public funding would need to be approved after national elections next year.
"Whoever forms the next government must keep in mind that if the Louvre is not repaired, updated and transformed, it will very quickly fall behind and will eventually have to close its doors to the public. That would be a disaster," he said.
Successive minority governments in France have struggled for years to pass annual budgets, and current Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is struggling to rein in public spending to reduce the country's vast deficit.
Leribault was appointed in February in the aftermath of an embarrassing Oct. 19 heist last year when a gang of thieves raided the Louvre and stole crown jewels worth an estimated $100 million.
He has made the problems highlighted by the theft a top priority, with the rollout of an 83 million euro (about $92.5 million) security master plan "moving forward at full speed," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP) ahead of the one-year anniversary of the crime.
Measures include creating a new head of security position, upgrading the security camera network – which was found to have old cameras and major gaps – as well as improved surveillance around the perimeter and at access points.
No 'miracle' solution
Leribault argued that long-term improvements could only be made as part of the larger overhaul he has planned for the institution, which welcomed around 9 million visitors last year.
"The operations needed to secure the museum require work on the historic building and its infrastructure," he wrote.
"There is no easy, miracle 'surface' solution. Everything is interconnected, everything is linked," he added.
The world's most-visited museum is facing structural problems from its old plumbing, poorly insulated galleries and cramped public areas.
The extent of the work and the cost have become political, with President Emmanuel Macron championing a 600-million-euro overhaul that would include a new entrance.
Trade unions criticized Macron and Leribault's predecessor, Laurence des Cars, for prioritizing grandiose plans for an architectural overhaul instead of more modest changes that would improve the visitor experience.