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French officials announced Monday that more than five years after the cathedral's iconic spire and dome collapsed in a fire, the structure will reopen to the public in late 2024. Rebuilding the church at a cost of $865 million got underway in April 2019, but development has been slow due to the COVID-19 lockdown, many archaeological finds beneath the cathedral's foundation, and a contentious plan to modernize the structure. The Paris Tourism Board said in a statement that the restoration would be led by architect Philippe Villeneuve. The cathedral will be rebuilt "mostly as it was before," including the spire, according to the statement.

Over two years, workers dug deep into the structure to ensure it was secure enough for reconstruction to begin. When President Emmanuel Macron canceled unpopular plans to replace the 19th-century building with a "modern architectural gesture," the architect Eugene Viollet-le-design Duc's will be used to repair the spire. Restoration of the cathedral's interior was approved by France's National Heritage and Architecture Commission despite widespread popular opposition. The proposed renovations call for a mix of the cathedral's collection of Old Masters with works from the 20th and 21st centuries. To accommodate a larger number of guests, the tabernacle might be relocated.
The original goal of the French government was to reopen the cathedral in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics. As an alternative, visitors to Paris for the occasion can check out the recently inaugurated exhibition "Notre-Dame de Paris: at the heart of the construction site" at an underground gallery next to the cathedral. The show focuses on the never-ending task of restoring what was lost. It exemplifies the difficulty of the restoration project and the competence of the thousand artisans working on it. Planned renovations include using authentic period materials. For instance, a thousand trees aged 150 years were used to construct "The Forest," the name given to the roof.

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