The Louvre Museum in Paris is earning hundreds of millions of euros from its 30-year partnership with the still-under-construction Louvre Abu Dhabi. Now, the public can see how it is using that money. The world’s most-visited museum has almost completed a two-year project to ease congestion at its Pyramid entrance. I.M. Pei’s underground atrium was designed to accommodate 4.5 million visitors a year when it opened in 1989, but annual attendance is now approaching 10 million. The renovation has moved the ticket offices and cloakrooms to the outer edges of the Pyramid and doubled security checks above ground to reduce queues. The €53.5m overhaul was primarily paid for by the Louvre Abu Dhabi loan fee and interest earned by the Louvre’s endowment fund. The fund received its first payment of €120m in 2010 from Abu Dhabi. A second smaller payment is expected this year.
