The Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, will soon be surrounded by a bullet-proof glass wall 2.5 metres (eight feet) high, part of a plan to prevent attacks at the iconic monument, the city said Thursday.
The 20-million-euro ($21.4 million) wall to be erected this autumn will replace the metal fences thrown up around the 324-metre (1,063-foot) tower during the Euro football tournament in France last year.
“The terror threat remains high in Paris, and the most vulnerable sites, starting with the Eiffel Tower, must be the object of special security measures,” deputy mayor Jean-Francois Martins told a press conference.
The glass casing will prevent individuals or vehicles storming the site visited by six million people each year, he added.
Some councillors quoted by Le Parisien newspaper said they feared the wall would turn the tower into a “fortress”.
It could turn off tourists who simply want to have their pictures snapped under the tower without visiting the venerable Iron Lady.
Martins said that visitors will continue to have access to the foot of the tower — after undergoing security checks.
Removing the unsightly barriers currently in place would give both visitors and locals alike “a nicer view of the monument”, he said.
Architects will help design the wall so that it blends in with the Seine river, which borders the tower to the north, and with the Champ de Mars park to the south, he added.
