Le Figaro Nice
A statue not yet finalized and intended to be installed in a parking lot with a garden, also not yet finished, finds itself at the heart of an administrative, legal imbroglio and on the edges, political, in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes).
The order for a life-size bronze of Joan of Arc, requested by the “Parcs d'Azur” agency, questioned the prefecture, to the point that it filed an appeal before the administrative court to control its legality.
According to the prefect Hugues Moutouh and his services, the rules of public procurement would not have been respected, we are told, confirming the information from
Nice-Matin
.
No call for tenders or competition for the creation of this work would have been made.
On January 20, the elected representative of the environmentalist group Jean-Christophe Picard also made a report to the Nice public prosecutor for an “offense of favoritism”.
It was the artist “Missor”, specialized in this type of production of historical figures with a claimed political approach, who had inherited this demand.
The amount of this all-bronze statue amounts to 170,000 euros.
The one who had a workshop in Nice had already donated one of his works representing Napoleon to the city.
The representation of Joan of Arc, almost two meters high, is intended to be positioned near a church of the same name and at the intersection of rue Charles-Peguy.
It is here that the major construction of an underground car park is still underway, in a district of the city center where spaces for cars are in high demand.
The work must be completed by the end of 2024.
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“There will be a statue”
The president of the authority, Gaël Nofri, among the closest elected officials of Mayor Christian Estrosi, takes note of the prefecture's approach.
“It’s normal that she controls the procedure, there’s nothing that shocks me
,” he defuses.
But he assures him:
“whatever happens, I can assure you that there will be a statue there and that it will be done according to the rules”
.
The president of the authority explains having followed the recommendations of his legal department within the framework of the “1% artistic”, provision of the State to encourage communities to install cultural works in their public spaces.
In this context, an exception to competitive bidding exists if it is judged that the artist is the only one capable of producing the work in question.
A lawyer will be consulted by the management to choose whether it will file another appeal before the Nice administrative court, or else, undergo a new deliberation during the next councils for this statue.
At this stage, the original procedure is in any case suspended, assures Gaël Nofri.
The price of this statue and the choice of this artist could also be criticized by the opposition.
“For a bronze statue of this size, it does not seem crazy to me, especially in the context of a project costing nearly 17 million euros
,” defends Gaël Nofri, who recalls that other statues of wings decorate important squares in the city, such as Charles de Gaulle on the Place de la Libération, or even Guiseppe Garibaldi, on the square that bears his name.
“Public space must be inhabited by those who make up our collective memory, we belong to our History
,” insists the elected official.