Louvre advances security work as repair costs loom a year after jewel theft

The Louvre is advancing security work in Paris nearly a year after the 19 October 2025 theft of eight crown jewels, but aging infrastructure and the cost of wider repairs threaten its longer-term plans, according to AFP’s 18 October report. The museum has appointed a security coordinator and pledged annual investment while remaining open to nearly nine million visitors a year.

Security changes after the jewel theft

The burglary exposed old or missing CCTV cameras, equipment shortages and the absence of a modern security control room, AFP reported. Before the theft, the Louvre had spent €3 million of €83 million earmarked for a security masterplan. The French Court of Auditors criticised the museum for prioritising projects it called ‘visible and attractive’. The spending figure describes the period before the burglary, rather than the current status of the plan.

Louvre director Christophe Leribault told AFP in a written statement that the security masterplan was making ‘rapid progress’, while citing the difficulty of carrying out work with the museum open. Laurent Lafon, chairman of the French Senate’s culture committee, told AFP that changing the museum’s security culture would take several years. Their assessments differ on pace, even as both describe security as an ongoing task.

Repairs and the Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance plan

Security is one part of a larger repair problem. AFP described aging plumbing and wiring, poor ventilation in summer and a lack of heating in winter in some areas of the palace. Leribault warned Le Figaro earlier this week that, without repairs and updates, the museum could eventually have to close to the public. His warning was conditional; no closure decision was announced.

President Emmanuel Macron unveiled his Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance vision in January 2025, including a new entrance and a gallery for the Mona Lisa. AFP put its proposed cost at about €1 billion and reported concerns about financing it amid France’s budget pressures. Unions have challenged the plan’s priorities. Christian Galani of the CGT union argued that security could be improved without the larger project, which he said failed to address immediate needs.

Leribault remains committed to the overhaul and is seeking private donors, AFP reported. He has described a €360 million fundraising target and said in June that he did not know whether he would meet it. That leaves the scale and financing of the broader work unresolved as the museum pursues its security upgrades.