$219,600 for a 15-foot tall chunk of slightly rusting iron

A Dutch entreprenuer with more than a bit of an Eiffel Tower obsession has purchased a rusty old staircase taken from the Paris icon for a lofty $219,600 — five times the original asking price.

"I'm very happy. We've bought a section of the Eiffel Tower," said Erik Kurvers, the president of a Dutch basketball team aptly named the EiffelTowers, after the hammer went down on his closing bid for the 15-fool tall piece of metal at the Drouot auction house in Paris.

In an interview, Kurvers said he had hoped to pay $29,000 and was prepared to pay as much as $117,000, but outbid all others because of what the piece symbolizes.


"It's not the money. It's more of what it means to us," he said.

Gustave Eiffel climbed the 1,911-step helical staircase to inaugurate the monument in 1889. It was removed in 1983 to make room for new elevators and was cut into 24 pieces that were auctioned off to museums and collectors around the world. One section remains on display at the Eiffel Tower, while others are owned by the Statue of Liberty National Monument and France's Musee d'Orsay.

The one auctioned Monday was the last one to be sold, according to the auction house.

For the 44-year-old entrepreneur, who also named his financial consultancy after the famous French architect, the name Eiffel connotes the pursuit of excellence.

Kurvers would not say exactly how or where the stairs would be used but insisted they would be well appreciated.

"It's a very special thing you can only buy once in your life," he said.

True, but we think this guy has an edifice complex.




Dutch businessman Erik Kurvers poses for photographers as he stands on a section of the winding iron staircase taken from the Eiffel Tower. Kurvers paid $219,600 for the 15-foot tall chunk of slightly rusting iron.