Paris — (NBC News) Tourists in the city of love Monday, June 1st, got the cold shoulder when a site where couples flocked to show their undying love was taken down by city workers.
The Pont De Arts Bridge in Paris became a mecca for lovers of all ages to immortalize their affections by writing their initials on a padlock, securing it to the bridge and throwing the key into the river below, but after a part of the bridge collapsed under the weight of the locks last summer, Paris officials say its too dangerous to keep them.
Not only did city officials say they posed future risk, they released a statement saying the locks ruined the bridge’s aesthetic, tourists at the bridge today disagreed.
Wang Xu, Australian tourist, “I heard that it’s just going to be like thrown out. I think they should at least put it in a museum actually put it somewhere so people can see it.”
Catherine Hominage, American tourist, “Yes it’s very sad. We came hoping to be able to put it in the middle, but now we find out it’s going to be illegal.”
To prevent new locks appearing on the bridge, the existing railings will be replaced with panels covered in street art and later this year by Plexiglas.
A British architect based in Paris proposed a plan for new railing that would allow new locks to be removed.
Colin Kovacs, architect, “The thing is it’s quite nice and quite romantic that people can put locks on the bridge so even with my design you can actually put the locks there and they can be taken away and maybe the metal can be used for some other purpose.”
Ten other bridges in Paris will continue the “love lock tradition,” at least for the time being.
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