Louvre boss warns of closure risk without major renovations

• The Louvre risks closure unless lawmakers approve major renovations, as boss Christophe Leribault warns the museum is “creaking and over-capacity” and needs urgent repair.
• Leribault wants private funding too, but says major public money may only come after the 2027 elections. He warned delay would be a “disaster”.
• The museum is also upgrading security after a 2025 jewel heist worth US$100 million. Plans include new security leadership, better cameras and stronger perimeter checks.

PARIS – The Louvre Museum risks having to close its doors to the public unless lawmakers approve a major overhaul of the creaking and over-capacity institution, its head told a French newspaper on Oct 14.

Speaking to Le Figaro, Christophe Leribault said that the museum intended to tap private sources of funding for its transformation, but that a major injection of public money would need to be approved after national elections in 2027.

“Whoever forms the next government must keep in mind that if the Louvre is not repaired, updated and transformed, it will very quickly fall behind and will eventually have to close its doors to the public. That would be a disaster,” he said.

Successive minority governments in France have struggled for years to pass annual budgets and current Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is struggling to rein in public spending to reduce the country’s vast deficit.

Leribault was appointed in February in the aftermath of an embarrassing Oct 19 heist in 2025 which saw a gang of thieves raid the Louvre to steal crown jewels worth an estimated US$100 million (S$128.3 million).

He has made tackling the problems highlighted by the theft a priority, with the rollout of an €83 million (S$118.9 million) security masterplan “moving forward at speed”, he told AFP ahead of the one-year anniversary of the crime.

Measures include creating a new head of security position, upgrading the security camera network – which was found to have old cameras and major gaps – as well as improved surveillance around the perimeter and at access points.

No ‘miracle’ solution

Leribault argued that long-term improvements could only be made as part of the larger overhaul he has planned for the institution, which welcomed around nine million visitors in 2025.

“The operations needed to secure the museum require work on the historic building and its infrastructure,” he wrote.

“There is no easy, miracle ‘surface’ solution. Everything is interconnected, everything is linked,” he added.

The world’s most-visited museum is widely seen as facing structural problems from its old plumbing, badly insulated galleries and cramped public areas.

The extent of the work and the cost have become extremely political, with President Emmanuel Macron championing a €600 million overhaul that would include a new entrance.

Trade unions criticised Macron and Leribault’s predecessor, Laurence des Cars, for prioritising grandiose plans for an architectural overhaul instead of more modest changes that would improve the visitor experience. AFP