The reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral is progressing quickly enough that visitors will be able to visit it again in late 2024, French officials said Monday.

The cathedral’s iconic spire, which collapsed in the fire, will gradually begin to reappear atop the monument this year, said the army general in charge of the colossal project, Jean-Louis Georgelin.

“The return of the bell tower to the sky of Paris will be, in my opinion, the symbol that we are winning the battle of Notre Dame,” he told the Associated Press.

Reconstruction began last year, after more than two years of work to make the monument stable and safe enough for craftsmen to begin rebuilding it. The competent authorities of France have decided to rebuild the 12th century masterpiece of Gothic architecture as it was before. This includes the recreation of the 93-meter-high cone added in the 19th century by the architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.

Meanwhile, an exhibition entitled “Notre-Dame de Paris: at the heart of the construction site” will be available to the public from next Tuesday in an underground installation in front of the cathedral. Those interested will have the opportunity to be informed about the progress of the reconstruction works, while at the same time they will see in the area remains from the catastrophic fire of 2019 as well as works of art that existed in the cathedral.

General Jean-Louis Georgelin said the cathedral would reopen in December 2024, a deadline set by the French president himself immediately after the fire.

For her part, Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak clarified that the works will not be fully completed until the end of 2024 but some will be done within 2025.

Every day about 1,000 people from all over France are working to rebuild Notre Dame, General Georgelin said.

“The biggest challenge for us is to achieve the time goal that has been set,” he stressed. “We have many different projects to achieve: the painting, the stones, the vault, the organ, the stained glass and so much more” he concluded.