Legacy of the Olympic Games, the Olympic cauldron could make its return to this historic place in Hauts-de-Seine

He welcomed the first airshipswill it host the famous Olympic cauldron? This symbol of the Paris Olympics could land in Hangar Y, located in Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine). The place is in any case candidate learned Paris news. “The application was submitted to the Île-de-France prefecture a few weeks ago,” tells us Jean-Michel Crovesi, general director of Hangar Y. But other locations are also being considered to install this symbol of the Games. .

Hangar Y: a place tailor-made to accommodate the basin?

Reopened in 2023 after several years of work, Hangar Y hosts giant exhibitions reflecting its dimensions: 3,000 m². Next to 200,000 visitors rushed to the scene in less than 2 years, “a guarantee of seriousness and recognition”, for Jean-Michel Crovesi, who preaches for his parish.

The place also has a historical argument undeniable. In 1884, the world's first closed circuit airship took off from Hangar Y. In addition, the director of the premises confides that “old photos from 1914 of tethered balloons which look exactly like it to the basin ball” were found.

The basin back in Paris?

Aside from Meudon, the Olympic cauldron is coveted by other placesparticularly in Paris. This is the case of Porte Maillot (16th/17th). Indeed, Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of the 17th arrondissement, “proposed to the President of the Republic that the Olympic cauldron find its setting” in this location. “Former aerodrome having hosted a tethered balloon at the beginning of the 20th century, this historic site would embody the legacy of the Paris Games,” he wrote on his X account.

A hefty bill to expect

A battle historical arguments is therefore in sight. But that was without counting on a possible return to the Tuileries, his initial place. However, if this option is chosen, the basin will not be exposed, in the garden, only occasionallyfor example on the occasion of the first anniversary of the competition.

Especially since another parameter comes into play: that of maintenance and security of the basin. In fact, these costs would be around a million euros annually and the bill for its return to service would amount to 2.5 million eurosjust like the cost of each re-inflation which is close to 300,000 euros. The location of the location should be known in the next monthsprobably before summer.

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