PARIS — The padlocks that weigh heavily on the sides of the
Pont des Arts tell stories dear to the lovers who affixed them to the
celebrated bridge’s iron grillwork.
And just as many romances melt away, now many of the locks
will most likely suffer the same fate as the Paris city fathers try to preserve
the bridge.
City workers began to dismantle the wire mesh panels on
which hundreds of thousands of lovers expressed their affections in what they
thought would be an ironclad statement: a metal lock, usually etched with the
couple’s initials, attached to the bridge, and the key tossed into the Seine
below.
Bruno Julliard, the deputy mayor in charge of culture, who
supervised the removal of the locks, tried to be sensitive to the feelings of
those who had placed them there, saying that Paris was still “the capital of
love, the capital of romance.”
But he urged people to find other ways to express their
fervency.
City officials have for months discussed removing the locks
and protecting the bridge, first built in the early 1800s and reconstructed in
the 1980s. Worries about seeming insensitive to the popularity of such a lasting
declaration of affection were one factor officials considered when they tried
to figure out how best to restore the landmark bridge.
Mr. Julliard said the removal of the locks, however
unsentimental, was necessary for security and aesthetic reasons.
The city will temporarily replace the bridge’s lock-laden
grills this week with panels painted by street artists, and it will later
replace those with custom-made plexiglass to protect the historic iron
grillwork. The plexiglass will allow pedestrians to once again see the Seine
through the grillwork. The locks had obscured the view.
When locks first began to appear more than five years ago,
some “could be seen as rather pleasant, but as years passed they took on such
proportions that they were no longer acceptable for the cultural heritage” of
Paris, Mr. Julliard said.
Most of the locks were bought for 5 or 10 euros ($5.50 to
$11) along the quays on either side of the Seine. With hundreds of thousands
hanging on the bridge, they were too heavy for its elegant ironwork. There was
a constant risk that the locks or even a whole panel could come crashing down
on the boats passing beneath.
The locks weigh an estimated 45 tons and will be kept in a
city warehouse after they are removed until the officials decide what to do
with them. Some are likely to be melted down, but others may have a second
life.
Mr. Julliard said the city was looking at recycling some of
the panels as works of art or giving them to charities. There is no plan, for
now, to fish out the more than 700,000 keys at the bottom of the river.
Scores of tourists, blocked from going onto the bridge,
watched as the operation began at midday under a cloudy sky.
Anthony Boccanfuso, 52, a tourist who runs a nonprofit in
Washington, said “From a distance, you don’t know that they are locks. Close
up, they may be visually ugly, but they tell stories. It’s like carving your
names on a tree or putting your names in wet concrete.”
Janice and Samantha Clay, a mother and daughter from
Atlanta, visiting Paris on a graduation trip, were a little regretful.
“It’s sad,” said Janice Clay, adding, “If it had never been
there, it wouldn’t be a bad thing, but it’s on your bucket list for Paris: See
the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the bridge of love.”
One person who was pleased with the city’s move was Lisa
Anselmo, who with a friend, Lisa Taylor Huff, championed the removal of the locks.
“It’s an important first step for Paris,” Ms. Anselmo said.
“Paris is ground zero in this trend” of attaching locks to architecture.
Berlin, London and New York have all seen similar phenomena.
“As a tourist, the most important thing is to be respectful
of a place’s culture,” she said.
However, it looks as if Ms. Anselmo and Ms. Taylor Huff, as
well as the Paris mayor’s office, still have lots of work ahead. Although city
officials are also removing locks from the nearby Pont de l’Archevêché, the
locks have already spread like barnacles onto several other bridges. The city
has no plans to fine tourists who use love locks, but it will remove them from
other locations.
