The future of the future event center of Bergerac (Dordogne) was at the heart of the Community Council meeting on Monday, September 2. The opportunity to give news of the construction site, “well on schedule”, according to the director general of services of the Bergerac urban community (CAB).
As a reminder, the building, built on the site of the former Anatole-France hall and twice as imposing, was designed to host all kinds of events such as shows and concerts, but also trade fairs, conferences or seminars, thanks to its multiple rooms.
Which makes it a “unique tool in the department”, according to the president of the CAB, Frédéric Delmarès, who specifies: “We are not doing a second Palio [NDLR, allusion à la salle de Boulazac] “The largest hall will have a capacity of around 2,200 seats (5,200 for the Palio) and the other four will be able to accommodate smaller groups, from a few dozen to a few hundred people.
Delegation for five years
What interested the CAB elected officials most on Monday was less the building itself than the way it would be operated. Rather than management by management, it was decided to go through a private service provider, via a public service delegation (DSP), “which provides the best guarantees on technical and economic performance”, according to the president.
If the councilors validated the DSP, questions quickly arose about the use of the premises and the economic balance of a structure whose construction will cost more than 15 million euros. How, in fact, can we ensure that the community will not have to inject money each year to cover possible operating deficits?
The future delegate, who will sign for five years, from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2030, will be chosen after an advertising and competitive tendering procedure. It will be necessary to ensure that the delegation contract is properly framed with quantified objectives and to closely monitor the operation of this event center to avoid any financial slippage.
Frédéric Delmarès wanted to be reassuring on the fact that the delegate “will have a commitment contract to keep” with “precise specifications” and “financial objectives” set by the CAB. But, the president of the intercommunality agrees, “it is true that there is also a share of risk for the community.”
What about associations?
What about associations that would like to use the premises for their activities or general meetings? A priori, there is no question of making them available to them free of charge; they will have to pay for it (just like the CAB to hold its Council meetings there), even if it means being helped by the local authorities. “We will have to insist with the delegate to have staggered rates for the public and adapted for the associations,” insisted elected representative Hélène Lehmann.
Finally, it remains to be seen how the future delegate, once chosen, will manage to schedule a season that would start in September 2025, while it often takes more than a year for other venues to set up their cultural season.
