A Brazilian city with fewer than 67,000 inhabitants is building a replica of Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower.
The replica – which is currently under construction in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais State – will be 30 metres (98 feet) tall when completed.
Its French inspiration, which was completed in 1889, stands at 1,083 feet tall, or 1,024 feet without the antennae.
The copy is scheduled to be completed on 15th April and will be named Torre UAIffel (UAIffel Tower).
The project is the brainchild of athlete, civil engineer, and businessman Gabriel Gurgel of Fortaleza, Ceara State.
The tower’s completion is timed to coincide with the opening of his new Gurgel Beach Club.
Gabriel told local media: “It will be a sports and leisure centre with six footvolley and beach tennis courts, a themed bar, a deck with 10 showers, with a total of three thousand square metres of sand, 500 square meters of VIP area, playgrounds for children on the sand, and space for events and shows.
“In total, there will be eight thousand square metres of sports and leisure.”
Access to the complex will be free, with guests only having to pay for the food and drink they consume on site.
Unlike in Paris, visitors will not be able to go to the top of the replica Eiffel Tower, but Gabriel hopes it will be an equally popular photo spot.
Beneath it, there will also be a stage for concerts.
The cost of the tower, which will use an estimated 25 tonnes of carbon steel, has been estimated at BRL 900,000 (GBP 141,000).
Netizens have been voicing their opinions about the project online.
Advertising executive Felipe de Araujo wrote: “I think it was a very mistaken concept.
“We have such beautiful icons here in Brazil and there was no need to search in another country.
“I would like the city and its residents to give more value to their history.”
One netizen dubbed it “the tackiest thing ever”.
While another joked: “If I can’t go to Paris, Paris comes to me.”
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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