The Grand Louvre has become too small, it will be modified

Paris - The famous Paris museum Louvre will undergo significant modifications in the coming years while remaining open, aimed at adapting to growing demands. These adjustments will mainly concern the spaces beneath the famous glass pyramid, which has become a symbol of the Grand Louvre - a project by American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, who gave the museum its current form. However, over time, the Grand Louvre has become too small.
In 1988, the year before the project was completed, three million people visited the Louvre. Last year, that number rose to 7.5 million, and in 2010, it is estimated that it could exceed nine million.
The underground spaces beneath the pyramid, which unlike some other large buildings from President François Mitterrand's era still look nice, are beginning to feel overwhelmed. Interest is growing in general, with visitors coming from areas where travel was previously limited - Eastern Europe, China, or India.
The Pyramid project, which is part of a newly signed contract between the Louvre and the state, is expected to bring relief. The 89-year-old architect Pei is also involved in it.
The project foresees, among other things, the relocation of ticket counters, information desks, cloakrooms, bookstores, and restaurants from the Napoleon hall beneath the pyramid, which leads to the various wings of the museum. Today, it is an overwhelming jumble that is difficult to navigate. The project's authors hope that after the modifications, it will become a space for contemplation. The entrance through the pyramid will be retained.
Everything should be completed by 2012. By that time, however, the Louvre will undergo other significant changes. In particular, a new department of Islamic art is set to open in 2009, which will focus on 10,000 Islamic artifacts from the Louvre itself and another 3,000 currently housed in the Museum of Decorative Arts. It will be located in the Visconti courtyard, which is not currently visited.
There are also plans for modifications to the Tuileries Gardens, which the Louvre has managed since 2005. However, the restoration of the royal and later imperial Tuileries Palace is likely to remain a dream for enthusiasts pursuing it. The palace was burned during the Paris Commune in 1871, and nothing remains of it.
Around the same time as the newly created department, the first rural branch of the Louvre is also expected to open its doors in Lens in northern France. The branch, referred to as "Louvre II," was decided upon by the government because the Louvre can no longer display all its collections, and also as an effort to elevate culturally areas severely affected by economic troubles.
The Louvre's budget is covered 60 percent by the state. The newly signed contract between the Louvre and the state anticipates an increase in state subsidies from the current 112 to 124 million euros (about 3.5 billion crowns) in 2008.
The Louvre began to be built as a royal castle in the late 12th century. The museum was established within it 600 years later during the revolution. Two-thirds of its visitors are foreigners. The regular admission fee today is 8.50 euros (about 240 crowns), but certain categories of visitors (youth under 18, unemployed, disabled individuals, etc.) have free entry. Admission is free for everyone on the first Sunday of each month and on the French national holiday, July 14.