A red escalator snakes down the side of the Pompidou Center.

But time has run out to visit great arts institution.

It has shut its doors to the public this autumn with renovation works starting at the end of the year.

Inside, preparations are already well underway, with rooms emptied out ahead of construction.

The five year renovation will see the removal of asbestos from all facades and enhance fire safety.

Several levels, including the ground floor, will be completely reconfigured and a new level will be dedicated to children.

It's an emotional moment for Jeanne Brun, Deputy Director of Centre Pompidou.

“It’s definitely a big day for us, for the public today, I can even say it’s a historical day as we’re closing the Centre Pompidou, the entire building for five years. So if you’re asking how I feel, I feel a bit sad, I mean maybe a lot sad today, like many of our public, but also I feel our team has the responsibility to work more into the five years to come to open a new and safe and interesting Pompidou," she says.

Even as the escalators are paused and rooms are bare, the Pompidou’s offbeat charm persists.

Initially nick-named “Notre Dame of the Pipes” by its critics when it opened in 1977, the Pompidou Centre eventually won over the hearts of Parisians and tourists alike, becoming one of the city’s most photographed monuments.

It's also become a home for a vast amount of artwork.

“The Centre Pompidou houses the third largest collection of artworks (in the world) which is about 140,000 works. 6,000 of those are on loan, either in France or abroad. The permanent collections - so that's level four and five of the museum - are already moved elsewhere in our storage facility. And some of the works that are still on level three are being moved as we speak, and that should be done by the end of the month,” says Alexandre Aumis, Centre Pompidou's Director of Building and Security.

Getting all those paintings, sculptures and objects out safely has been an operation in itself.

“The biggest challenge was figuring out exactly what we have to move, how big it is. Do we have a box for it or should… do we need to make a custom box for it? And then what to do with the really extra large work that cannot be moved by humans like you and me, that have to be moved by cranes or special equipment that we have to bring here, open some of the doors and some of the windows that we don't usually open to make sure that we can get them out and think about the next move, which is in five years, when we have to bring them back in,” says Aumis.

So will this epic transformation be worth doing without the centre for five whole years?

Brun believes the renovations will deliver a whole new experience for visitors.

“If you go underground you’ll find an entirely new space: the Agora that will distribute a lot of spaces like cinemas, places for performing arts, for exhibitions. And we’ve expanded those spaces. So compared to today, they will be bigger and the heart of the Pompidou will be really in these places, public spaces that will welcome all of the people that want to go and visit the place,” she says.

Architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers designed the six-level complex for flexible use, placing all ventilation, electricity, and water systems, along lifts and escalators outside the building.

Paris will just have to be patient to see what the inside will look like in five years time.

AP video by Deborah Gouffran