“It’s a catastrophe !” : in Paris, a petition against the closure of the Center Pompidou

Local residents and traders do not accept the closure for three years, from September 2023 to the end of 2026, of Beaubourg due to asbestos removal and upgrading work. Refusing this decision announced on January 25 by the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, the association for the defense of residents and the animation of the Halles district has just launched a petition. Named “Let’s keep the Center Pompidou open during the works”, it has so far collected 70 signatures.

“The Parisian temple of contemporary art is also the keystone of an ecosystem in Saint-Merri, Les Halles and in the Marais, whose economic and cultural players depend on the flow of visitors to Beaubourg”, observes the president of the association, Emmanuel Duprat. And to plead for “the site to be carried out without closure, the only solution that will avoid the bankruptcy of hundreds of businesses, already weakened by the health crisis and by a series of heavy works (Forum des Halles, Samaritaine…). “

“From 1997 to 2000, I had lost 40% of my turnover”

Boss for thirty years of the brewery Le Petit Marcel, located rue Rambuteau, Franck Renaudin confides: “It’s a disaster! During the first wave of work which had already led to the closure of Beaubourg from 1997 to 2000, I had lost 40% of my turnover. “

Recalling that “the heart of the Beaubourg district beats to the rhythm of the Center Pompidou”, Ariel Weil, mayor (PS) of Paris center, has just sent a letter to Serge Lasvignes, president of the Center Pompidou, to express his “consternation faced with the unilateral announcement of this closure, which seems to have been taken without paying much attention to the environment of the establishment ”.

Deploring “the lack of discussion, despite [son] insistence ”, the elected official is worried about the“ potentially dramatic economic and social consequences ”of such a decision. And concludes: “It seems urgent to me that you organize the meetings so awaited by the inhabitants, traders and local elected officials. “

While declaring himself “of course ready to meet inhabitants and traders, as we did with the caterpillar change project (Editor’s note: the escalator on the facade) which should end in May 2021 ”, Serge Lasvignes announces that“ an appointment has been made with the mayor of Paris center ”. And says: “The work is inevitable. The building ends up in peril. The safety of employees, visitors and works is at stake. We do not have the choice. For us, too, the closure is the worst thing. “

A closure to go faster and cost less

The president of the Center Pompidou confirms that two scenarios were studied with the companies: “By keeping the center open, the site would have lasted seven years, cost a little more. (226 million euros, compared to 200 million euros) and, above all, it would not have made it possible to completely remove asbestos from the site. “

This is why the decision was taken to close Beaubourg during the work. “Even for traders, continues Serge Lasvignes, it is more interesting to reopen in a spectacular way a brand new Pompidou Center rather than to take the risk of degrading the image of a multicultural center in perpetual construction. “