NEW ORLEANS'S 'EIFFEL TOWER' (original) (raw)
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/10/garden/new-orleans-s-eiffel-tower.html
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- Dec. 10, 1986
Credit...The New York Times Archives
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December 10, 1986
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Section C, Page
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John Onorio, who grew up in Brooklyn, will never forget his first look into the gigantic crate that held his dream of a New Orleans restaurant. The 11,000 pieces of metal inside, looking like a giant Erector set, were nothing less than a chunk of the Eiffel Tower -not actually the tower, but the restaurant that once perched there, 562 feet above Paris.
Being a realist as well as a dreamer, he wasn't surprised at the clutter within. His partner, Daniel Bonnot, blanched, however, and so did the contractor, James Landis, faced with the prospect of reading the French labels that identified each piece.
The crate is now empty and the contents neatly reassembled. The new Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel will open its doors Friday with a charity benefit. Invitations went out last month on the wrappers of freshly baked loaves of French bread hand delivered to the guests, who will pay $125 each to attend.
The new restaurant is already a landmark on St. Charles Avenue at the edge of the historic Garden District. It has the look of a giant glass bird cage floating above the avenue. Stephen Bingler, the project architect, has placed the restaurant 16 feet above the ground in a tall metal frame decorated with curves reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.
The restaurant's hegira began in 1981 when engineers noted that the tower, built for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, was sagging. They decided that the restaurant, which had been placed there in 1937, was too heavy and must be removed.
A French businessman, Georges Lancelin, acquired the Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel in return for dismantling it. Mr. Lancelin announced plans to rebuild the restaurant elsewhere in Paris, but municipal officials forbade him to reopen it anywhere in France under the name Tour Eiffel.
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