PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors Wednesday because of a strike over contract negotiations that coincided with the 100th anniversary of the death of its creator Gustave Eiffel.

The Eiffel Tower, one of the most visited places in the world, is normally open 365 days a year – although occasionally affected by strikes – and is expected to play a central role 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Some tourists were visibly upset when they saw a large sign under the iron facade announcing the closure in several languages ​​and apologizing for the inconvenience. Others still took photos or rearranged their Paris plans.

On Wednesday, visitors could still access the glass promenade beneath the tower, but could not enter the 300-meter-high landmark itself. Stephane Dieu from the CGT union said the reopening was planned for Thursday.

The strike was declared ahead of contract negotiations expected next month with the city of Paris, the owner of the 134-year-old monument, said a spokesman for the company SETE, which manages the tower.

Unions said the tower’s 400 workers were concerned about the long-term prospects for the monument.

“We had COVID. We lost a year of sales. We have huge debts,” Dieu told the Associated Press. “The tower is over 130 years old and is slowly starting to show its age.” Numerous renovation work will have to be carried out in the coming years and decades. The management company needs the resources to address this.”

He said the strike was a “symbolic action on a symbolic day to commemorate the anniversary of Eiffel’s death and to preserve his work.”

Dutch tourist Istvan Harman, standing under the tower, was pragmatic about the closure, saying simply: “You have to go somewhere else.”

But it was a blow to the Fontaine family.

“It is the first time we have been to Paris with the children and it was the first activity on the program. “So we were really disappointed when we saw that the Eiffel Tower was closed today,” said mother Emma Fontaine.

The attraction is typically visited by about 20,000 visitors per day at this time of year, said the spokesman, whose name could not be used publicly in accordance with tower management guidelines.

A special music show on the death of Gustave Eiffel on December 27, 1923 is still planned for Wednesday evening on social networks and on French television as it has already been recorded, the spokesman said.