Bordeaux: after the fire at the town hall, a consultation launched to choose the future door

Le Figaro Bordeaux

It was a moment of stupor and incomprehension for all the people of Bordeaux. On the evening of March 23, 2023, after a day of mobilization against the pension reform punctuated by urban violence, Bordeaux City Hall was targeted by several individuals, who had set fire to the historic door of the building. Heavily damaged by the flames, it had to be removed and replaced by a temporary door in June. Six months after the facts, the town hall launches a consultation open to all, in order to choose which door will replace the one that was destroyed.

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We are launching today the consultation of Bordeaux residents on the replacement of the historic door of the city hall, "announced the ecologist mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, this Wednesday, at a press conference of return. "The question is simple: do you want a door identical to the previous one or a more contemporary door, which would be the subject of a competition in compliance with heritage rules?" added the edile, stressing the importance of "deciding together on the future of the door".

See alsoThe mayor of Bordeaux is he required to rebuild identically the burned door of the city hall?

The charred door soon at the museum?

To participate in this public consultation, conducted from 27 September to 22 October, bulletins are already available at the entrance to the town hall and in the district town halls. Voters are simply asked to choose between "a door identical to the previous one" or a door "from a contemporary creation", and to specify whether they live in the metropolis or if they are passing through, and finally to commit to voting only once. It is also possible to fill out an online form.

There are only two options proposed to the people of Bordeaux, but a third had also been briefly considered before the extent of the damage to the structure was known: consolidate the door and keep it as it was, with this charred appearance. This did not fail to react some opponents of the city council, including the elected Fabien Robert (MoDem), who saw in this proposal "a "two in one": a totem for the thugs and an insult to the police and firefighters". For Pierre Hurmic, this idea sought rather to "preserve the spirit of indignation around this act of vandalism", without "denying" this shocking event that had, like many Bordeaux, deeply touched him.

Removal of the burned door of the city of Bordeaux

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"Unable to be restored to be repaired and reused, the burned door was entrusted to a company of restoration of ancient monuments and carpentry, where it is the subject of additional investigations to determine its origin and find its decorations," says the municipality. "When these appraisals are completed, the city will examine its conservation in one of the city's museums." The fire also damaged the masonry of the peristyle. "Some parts of this stone frame will have to be deposited, restored or replaced," details the town hall. A first phase of work, to restore the whole, will begin this winter, for a period of six months.