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Students will not be judged except on their grades.
In Grasse, the courtrooms have been replaced by classrooms, and the court has disappeared.
The inscription "Grasse campus" now adorns the stone facade.
The old courthouse in the old town, unoccupied by lawyers and magistrates since 1998, has been rehabilitated to house higher education courses.
In the 3000 m2, four schools and 450 students will settle.
Behind the project, a political vision driven by the mayor to shake up the ambient tranquility of his town.
Jérôme Viaud (Les Républicains), brand new president of the association of mayors of the Alpes-Maritimes, readily admits that his city did not really have a student fiber.
But the city councilor assumes the turn he wants to take in his historic center: “
it is a strategic element to import students and to give another dynamic
, sums up the elected official.
Young people must reclaim the old city.”
From there to disrupting habits?
"I want an effervescent city, you can't make lukewarm water
," he replies.
There may be some turbulence but it will be healthy.
I prefer to manage parties rather than collapsing buildings or delinquency.
Eight million euros of works
With two 140-seat amphitheatres and a preserved waiting room which offers a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean, the Côte d'Azur decor should attract students.
"The building is a power and a force of attraction and differentiation"
, boasts the mayor.
60 engineering students from Cergy-Pontoise and Les Mureaux have already taken over the premises.
“I have nothing against these cities
, smiles Jérôme Viaud,
but they do not have the same climatic conditions and the same working environment!”
The work began in June 2021 and required funding of eight million euros.
The investment is part of the "Action heart of the city" plan launched by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Long denounced as an "empty shell", Jérôme Viaud wants to be a defender despite his membership of the LR.
“You have to be fair, I am convinced of its usefulness,”
he admits.
This device financed the redevelopment to the tune of 816,000 euros, in addition to the almost 2.9 million from the Paca region, the two million from the Alpes-Maritimes department and the 1.6 million from the urban community and finally the 668,000 euros from the city of Grasse.
In addition to the figures and the ambition to requalify a district, the installation of students in Grasse must serve as a bridge with the major perfumery houses that have returned to the Côte d'Azur, such as Louis Vuitton, Dior or Lancôme.
“They research in biotechnology or marketing
,” notes Jérôme Viaud.
Among the four courses that are set up, ECAM-EPMI (engineering), EFCAM (audiovisual), ESPIM (real estate) and IDRAC (trade).
Which makes Jérôme Viaud say that in Grasse,
“we don't just do perfumery”
.
But let everything remain somewhat linked.
By 2030, 2000 students are expected.