Paris — The head of the Louvre Museum said on Wednesday that surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems will soon be installed at this Parisian landmark after the theft of the stunning Crown Jewels last month.
Laurence de Carre, director of the Louvre, said the cameras – about 100 of them – will be operational by the end of next year, while installation of anti-intrusion systems will begin within two weeks.
The systems were described as equipment that would prevent intruders from approaching the museum buildings, but did not provide details. She added that the new surveillance cameras will try to ensure “full protection of the museum’s surroundings.”
“After the shock, after the emotion, after the evaluation, it’s time to act” on the world’s most visited museum, De Carre told the National Assembly’s Cultural Affairs Committee.
It’s all part of more than 20 emergency measures that will be implemented, she said. She added that the new measures also include the creation of a “security coordinator” position at the museum, and the position was announced this month.
On the day of the robbery, it took the thieves less than 8 minutes to break through the window of the Apollo Gallery with the help of a cargo crane and steal the treasure worth 88 million euros ($102 million).
Des Cars revealed some new details about the security breach that allowed for the theft on October 19, saying that the power tools the thieves used to break into the display cases were disc cutters intended for concrete.
“It’s an approach that was absolutely unimaginable,” she said, when the Apollo Gallery’s showcases were replaced in 2019. She added that it was designed at the time primarily to counter any attack from inside the museum with weapons.
She added that footage from the museum’s cameras shows that during the theft, “the display cabinets held up remarkably well and did not break.” “The videos show how difficult it is for the thieves.”
Des Carr stressed that improving security is a priority of the decade-long “New Louvre Renaissance” plan launched earlier this year, at an estimated cost of 800 million euros ($933 million), to modernize infrastructure, relieve congestion and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.
With the Louvre Museum collapsing under the weight of mass tourism, the Automobile Palace has limited the daily number of visitors to 30,000 in recent years.
She pointed out that the famous glass pyramid, which was opened in 1989, was supposed to receive about 4 million visitors annually. This year, more than 8 million people visited the Louvre Museum.
“The extensive modernization that the Louvre underwent in the 1980s is now technically obsolete, with equipment that has been outperforming for 40 years,” De Cars said.
The Louvre Museum announced Monday that it would temporarily close some staff offices and one public gallery because they were structurally fragile.
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