After the withdrawal of Bally Bagayoko, Stéphane Bern elected head of the association for the reconstruction of the Saint-Denis spire

The general assembly of the association Follow the Flèche!, created in 2016 to follow the work on the reconstruction of the spire of the Saint-Denis basilica, elected Stéphane Bern “unanimously” as president. The LFI mayor of the city, Bally Bagayoko, however, thought he would get the rightful position. In The Parisian, that very morning, he had denounced “a candidacy solicited by representatives of the State on the basis of a political argument”. At the last moment, and in the face of evidence, the latter withdrew from this race for the presidency.

Stéphane Bern succeeds the socialist Mathieu Hanotin, former mayor of the new commune of Saint-Denis. There remain 4 to 5 million euros to find for the spire that Stéphane Bern offers to help find, by putting his address book and his popularity at the service of the site. “I ran not against the mayor, but with a view to unity and unity, this project going beyond all of us, explains the host Figaro. I have no desire to enter the political arena, especially in this pre-election period. My only party is heritage. »

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During the general meeting, the latter proposed to bring to his side a vice-president, from the ranks of the town hall. On the board of directors, members from all backgrounds are expected. “We need to give new impetus to the project,” this child.

The Saint-Denis Cathedral Basilica, burial place of the kings and queens of France, once had a north tower with a spire. Culminating at 90 meters high, it was struck by lightning in 1837, restored for the first time, before experiencing storms in 1842 and 1845. Its dismantling was completed in 1847, under the direction of the architect Viollet-le-Duc.

The municipality launched a project in 2015 to rebuild it, the association Follow the arrow! was founded immediately. After controversies over the advisability of this 38 million euro project – which was initially supposed to be financed by visitors to the site -, as well as its “Disneyland” side, an agreement was signed between the association, the Ministry of Culture, the Center of National Monuments and the Bishopric of Saint Denis.

The reconstruction is now financed by the Île-de-France Interdepartmental Solidarity Fund (FS2I), the Île-de-France Region, the Greater Paris Metropolis, private investors and the heritage foundation. In March 2025, the laying of the first stone of the reconstruction was laid by Rachida Dati, marking the start of a project which should last several years. The city, which welcomes 130 different nationalities, has largely adopted this work, seeing it as support for artistic professions, as well as a mark of local dynamism.

On July 14, Bally Bagayoko published “a declaration of ambition for the future of the arrow” on X, estimating that the site could “making heritage a lever for human, cultural, economic, educational and tourist development”, in his city. let us add, what the mayor did not do in his text, that the arrow will allow a Christian symbol to reassert itself in the public space.