Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s plans to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower permanently has drawn the ire of some Parisians, French politicians, and the descendants of the man who designed the iconic structure. 

“It was an honour and a great pleasure to have those rings exhibited at the Eiffel Tower for the Olympic Games. There’s no denying that,” Savin Yeatman-Eiffel told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

“But the idea that those rings are going to stick forever on the Eiffel Tower … that’s a different story. And that’s where the problem is for us.”

Yeatman-Eiffel is the great-great-great grandson of Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s architect, and the vice-president of the Association of Descendants of Gustave Eiffel, which represents about 70 of his living descendants.

Those descendents are among those who have expressed displeasure with Hidalgo’s plan, which she announced in an interview with the daily French newspaper Ouest-France on Saturday.

Mayor: ‘The decision is up to me’

Hidalgo did not respond to a CBC request for comment before deadline, but she told Ouest-France that “the French have fallen in love with Paris again” and she wants “this festive spirit to remain.”

“As mayor of Paris, the decision is up to me and I have the agreement of the [International Olympic Committee],” Hidalgo said. “So yes, they will stay on the Eiffel Tower.”

She said the current rings are too heavy to remain on the wrought-iron tower indefinitely, and will eventually need to be replaced with a lighter replica from the same manufacturer. 

The City of Paris owns the tower and is a 99 per cent stakeholder in the company that manages it. 

Neither the city, nor the International Olympic Committee, responded to requests for comment from CBC before deadline. 

The Eiffel Tower was originally designed as the centrepiece of the 1889 Paris Exhibition. Since then, it has become a tourist attraction that’s drawn more than 330 million visitors, according to the city’s website.

“The Eiffel Tower has become, since its creation, the symbol of Paris, and to a large extent, the symbol of France for most of the world. So to associate a different symbol, no matter how strong of a symbol it may be, sounds like a very strange idea to us,” Yeatman-Eiffel said.

He says he and his fellow descendents support keeping the rings there a little while longer, maybe even a year or two, but not for good. 

“The Eiffel Tower is an old lady. She’s been there for 125 years. You cannot take a decision like this, to modify it forever,” he said. “That’s taking it a step too far.”

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who lost a mayoral bid to Hidalgo in 2020, called the tower “a protected monument” and “the work of an immense engineer and creator.”

“Before any decision is made or any announcement is made in this matter, it is important that all procedures and consultations aimed at protecting heritage are respected,” Dati wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

SOS Paris, an organization that advocates for the protection of the city’s heritage architecture, also came out against the idea.

“Using France’s most famous monument to establish your dogma and remind the whole world forever that Anne Hidalgo made the 2024 Olympics is going very far,” the group posted in French on X. 

Parisians, meanwhile, are divided on the proposal.

A petition on Change.org opposing the plan had more than 34,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon. But some people on the streets of Paris told Reuters they welcome the idea.

Parisian Clemence Goulfier said the tower is “quite beautiful” with the rings. 

“The values ​​conveyed by these Olympic rings are quite fabulous,” Goulfier told Reuters in a quote translated from French. 

“It is also a way of showing our attachment to these values, these Olympic, international values of peace, of solidarity. So yes, I think it is a great idea.”

Student Elly Diouf disagreed, telling Reuters: “I think that we have to move on.”

Yeatman-Eiffel says that, ultimately, the decision should rest with the people. He called on the mayor to put it to a citywide vote.

“There’s a long history behind the Eiffel Tower. It’s a very powerful symbol. So I don’t think just one person can make such a decision,” he said.

“It’s something that’s so much bigger than any one of us.”