Strong in decline seeks a new fortune.
Despite the torrents of gold contained in its treasure room - at least in the successful television program broadcast since 1990 by France 2 - Fort Boyard would need considerable funding to ensure the renovation of entire sections of this building.
"Several tens of millions of euros"
, to be precise, said Friday the president of the Departmental Council of Charente-Maritime Sylvie Marcilly (DVD), quoted by the newspaper
Sud Ouest
.
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While the first renovation work began this week off La Rochelle, the Department has let it be known that it cannot alone support the full and complete restoration of the building, completed in 1858, in the middle of the Second Empire. A call for international sponsorship and donations would be considered by the local authority, which plans - according to
South West
- to set up a
"broad communication plan"
to draw attention to the state of this site classified as a historic monument. Expensive, the renovation of Fort Boyard would however be worth the candle, assured the
Parisian
at the end of September
the vice-president of the Council of Charente-Maritime in charge of tourism, Stéphane Villain (DVD):
“More than 10 million euros have been invested in its maintenance since 1989. But in view of the economic and media repercussions, it is really worth it.
This fort is our Eiffel Tower. ”
A spur to break the effect of the waves
Exposed to the whims of the swell and the prevailing north-westerly winds, the granite and limestone facades of the fort deteriorate from year to year.
“It is not going to collapse right away
”, tempered Sylvie Marcilly in December 2020, for the departmental weekly
Le Littoral
. Qualified by the Department as an
“emblematic site”
of Charente-Maritime, the fort could benefit in the medium term from a major reconstruction project, at the north head, of the breakwater spur which originally accompanied the fortified site. .
"The idea is to recreate this spur in order to break the dynamics of the swell
»Sylvie Marcilly said in December.
A small port could also be built over the next few years at the southern tip of the monumental structure.
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The Fort Boyard renovation project has been supported for several months by the Charente-Maritime community, owner of the monument since 1988. Signed in December 2020 in the wake of the announcement of the France Relance plan of 100 billion euros, l he departmental revival agreement had among other things released 810,000 euros for the development of sustainable tourism and for the renovation of heritage. Largely insufficient for the large-scale works that the Department would like to be able to program at the fort, part of these funds have at least made it possible to finance a first phase of works spread out from 2021 to 2022. These concern the most important parts of the site vis-à-vis the production of the program "Fort Boyard".
The work carried out this week aimed to install a new helipad at the top of the fort.
Its 14 wooden pieces were transported one by one by helicopter during the day of October 7.
As specified by the Department of Charente-Maritime, the next operations, scheduled for 2022, should renovate the interior wooden walkways and the proscenium of the fort, devices used in the context of the program broadcast on France 2 since 1990. The games of this fort with great spectacle are not yet made.