As part of the city center MétamorphOse project, Midi Libre gives voice to local actors. Today the lawyer Gérard Christol delivers his ideas.
The man readily admits some “mistakes” professionals or politicians who brought him beyond the pescalune city, but Gérard Christol’s attachment to his hometown goes well beyond the viscera. “With Lunel, I have much more than roots, they are chains in the positive sense”, launches the former president.
Suffice to say that the municipal project for the rehabilitation of the city center, by that means its renewal, enthusiasm. “I regret, having regard to the geographical position and the history of Lunel, that this project was not undertaken before. For 100 years, the successive mayors had very little ambition for this city and many were says: “To live happily, let’s live in hiding” “, Judge Gérard Christol. He remembers, moreover, that in 1971, first deputy mayor René Parry, he drew up some plans aimed at transforming the city. “We are wrong to be right too soon”, he smiles, paraphrasing Edgard Faure.
Don’t forget about history and geography
Nevertheless, even if the click comes late, the Pescalune is certain: “The renewal will be more difficult but it is not too late.” According to him, Lunel still has major assets that he calls to put forward. Colloquially, he evokes geography and speaks of a position “exceptional” between Nîmes and Montpellier, in Petite Camargue, with the nearby motorway and the new multimodal interchange. But it doesn’t stop there. Gérard Christol invokes the great Lunellois whom he will soon praise at the Montpellier Academy of Letters where he will be received in place of the painter Gérard Calvet whose wife was Lunelloise.
On that day, he reveals that he will talk a lot about Lunel and cites, among others, the first Jewish doctor from Lunel to whom Montpellier owes a lot, Samuel Ibn Tibbon, born in Lunel, who translated Maimonides from Arabic into Hebrew, Edmond Rostand who praised Henri de Bornier by receiving the latter at the French Academy, or Louis Feuillade and of course Jean Hugo. “ The geography and history of Lunel must be brought back to life. You need a backdrop and it can go from there “, he pleads.
In any case, the lawyer wants to believe that it will seal the received ideas on Lunel whose image was blackened by the episode of jihad. “This image is unbearable. I have been a lawyer for 58 years and I have never heard of the assault on a woman in Lunel even after 10 pm when Montpellier cannot say the same!”, he blurted out.
Student accommodation cheaper than in Montpellier or Nîmes
As for urban renewal proper, Gérard Christol develops his theory: “It’s very nice to talk about greenery, repairing facades, but the priority is to bring people back to the city center. During the week, at the beginning of the afternoon, when I am in the city center j ‘hear my footsteps. It’s a cemetery “, he explains.
To remedy this, he pursues his idea: “The heart of the city center is the Christol-Sérane house and opposite, the Boulet house. They are located at the intersection of Grand-rue, rue de la Liberation and Sadi-Carnot. C ‘It’s simple, you have to start there. These two houses are for sale, you have to install municipal services such as civil status and town planning. ” Gérard Christol assures him: “People will be forced to come back and walk to these services. It will be the start of the reconquest.” The lawyer also suggests exploiting the potential of the Renard gallery: “It’s 500 m2 and nearby parking lots”, he specifies before imagining aloud “something judicial inside” and launch: “I will take an interest in it.”
The Lunellois develops another idea: “In the city center we can build student apartments at much cheaper prices than in Montpellier or Nîmes. Now it takes less than a quarter of an hour by train to go to these two cities.” Gérard Christol insists: “ The city center can only prosper if people pass through it. “
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