After months of debates and concerns from the residents of the 7th, the decision has just been made at the beginning of this year: the Grand Palais Éphémère will finally disappear from the Champ-de-Mars, and this by the end of April 2025. This is what Rachida Dati, the district mayor, announced on Sunday, February 9. A victory for the locals, who were starting to get impatient.
The end of an era
For more than 3 years now, it has hosted exhibitions, fairs, and also events during last summer's Olympic and Paralympic Games. And after more than 50 months of good and faithful service, the Grand Palais Éphémère will finally close its doors at the end of 2024.
> Or at least it should have, since the original contract only went until November 30, 2024. But here we are, more than 2 months later, and he’s still here, and not everyone is happy about it.Le démontage du Grand Palais Ephémère sera fini le 25 avril, annonce Rachida Dati ce soir dans un communiqué. Le chantier s’accélère donc grâce à la pression des instances concernées (Ministère de la Culture, Réunion des Musées nationaux et mairie du 7e), que nous saluons ! La… pic.twitter.com/k5XEuQoaZp
— Les Amis du Champ-de-Mars (@AmisChamp2Mars) February 9, 2025
But after numerous meetings organized by the association Les Amis du Champ-de-Mars, supported by 6 other associations and Parisian elected officials, Rachida Dati made sure to reassure everyone yesterday: the demolition has finally started and is expected to last until April 25, the date on which the Champ-de-Mars will return to its pre-2021 appearance. It's a relief for the locals who, according to the district mayor, have suffered from numerous nuisances due to the recurring setups and takedowns of various infrastructures to host events on the sidelines of the ephemeral Grand Palais.
An impeccable restoration
To explain the delay in schedule, the service provider GL Events, responsible for the ephemeral Grand Palais, highlighted a lack of resources.
Agreement among the different actors involved in managing the place. A problem intensified by the fact that “it’s a structure that is supposed to be relocated elsewhere, so merely removing the construction ball isn’t enough to destroy it.” The company still managed to absolve itself a bit, stating that while the external dismantling started later than planned, inside, the work was already well underway, but “you just couldn’t see it from the outside.”"Le Grand Palais Éphémère est devenu iconique". GL Events prend prétexte des médailles olympiques obtenues en judo, et invoque pas moins que le précédent de la Tour Eiffel, pour repousser le démontage du bâtiment provisoire qui défigure le Champ de Mars. " pic.twitter.com/V9KToB2fnK
— SOS Paris (@SOSParis) August 12, 2024
Anyway, this time, it's the right one, and the first external bolts were removed on Monday, February 3rd. The work is expected to last 3 months, leading to the total disappearance of the building scheduled for April 25th. Additionally, there are plans to fully restore the surrounding lawns from Monday, April 7th to Friday, May 16th, 2025, to bring back all its splendor to the site, delighting both local residents and tourists who love to stroll around the Champ-de-Mars.