The huge metal jaw greedily bites the building from top to bottom. Already a whole section has fallen apart, leaving large pieces of concrete at its feet. In barely an hour, the ground and the cars are covered with a layer of dust. The nibbling of Debussy began this Wednesday, February 15 under the gaze of a few rare elders from the city of Pierre-Plate in Bagneux. Behind them, the gaping hole left by the Rossini bar, which also fell in 2021 as part of the huge urban renewal operation in this district, which originally had 1,800 inhabitants.
“It’s heartbreaking, my mother lived almost all her life here, on the 6th floor, for fifty-five years! She and my father were among the first tenants in 1956. She has 87 today,” says Olivier, pointing to the windows and the balcony of the family home that the shovel will soon attack. “I’m 58, I was born there and now I live at the other end of the Debussy bar. »
“It’s sad to bring it all down”
Because the building was cut in two. A part will remain standing, it has already been rehabilitated. Only stairwells 8, 9 and 10 will be demolished, i.e. 104 dwellings. A feature that the lessor Seqens is already used to. “It’s happening more and more. Between each stairwell, there is an expansion joint, there is no mechanical junction between them”, explains Olivier Fritz, real estate director of Seqens. At number 7, seven out of 10 families have been relocated. Three others remained and will have to take their troubles patiently enduring the demolition just on the other side of their walls.
“I’m at number 5, that’s fine. With the double glazing that they installed for us, when everything is closed, I hardly hear anything”, notes Josette who has lived in the Cité des Musiciens (her real name) since 1988. Because before nibbling, long months cleaning and asbestos removal works have been carried out. “It’s still funny to me, it’s sad to tear down all that and relocate all these people. »
“I think it’s good for the neighborhood”
There were a total of 350 rehousings, most of which were made in Bagneux. “They had three housing offers, some even a little more. We had a lot of requests for the northern districts with the arrival of the metro and overall it went well, ”says Marie-Hélène Amiable, mayor (PCF) of Bagneux who came to attend the start of the nibbling. “I find that it has been very fluid, in particular thanks to the deliveries of new housing,” adds his assistant Hélène Cillières.
But if the installations were fluid, they were no less difficult. “My mother was rehoused in a two-room apartment, which was super nice, but she had a four-room apartment before, she was happy because she could accommodate her grandchildren. She was still forced to leave, ”says Olivier.
“But I remain positive,” he continues. I think it’s good for the neighborhood. The arrival of line 4 has done a lot of good. Me who drives a lot, I only go to Paris by metro now. »
At the end of the Debussy bar, the Mozart building placed perpendicularly is now almost empty. One dwelling remains occupied. Seqens therefore hopes to be able to demolish it again this year and it will be the last of the City of Musicians to fall. 300 homes demolished in total. On the facade of the walled building, large photographs of each of the emptied dwellings were displayed.
The next step in the urban renewal of Pierre-Plate — a 200 million euro project, 21 million of which will be allocated by Anru — will be the residentialization of the rehabilitated buildings. “Each building will have its own space, it will no longer be the big city we used to know. The roads, which are private today, will switch back to public space,” emphasizes Marie-Hélène Amiable. The construction of the 600 dwellings will then begin but for the time being no permit has yet been filed.
