Its doors have been closed since February 8. That day, during a meeting of the Nupes, a group of around 200 students opposed to the pension reform had burst into the hall of the Cité in Rennes. The political meeting canceled, several dozen of them had taken possession of the premises and spent the night inside the mythical room, which was the cradle of the Trans Musicales.
The next morning, at the request of the mayor of Rennes, the police intervened to calmly evacuate the occupants, perched on the roofs of the cultural facility. “Despite the brevity of the occupation, about fifteen hours, the damage was significant and amounted to nearly 50,000 euros”, specifies the city, which had filed a complaint in the process.
Already occupied during the Labor Law in 2016
Work, scheduled for this summer, will now take place to restore the Salle de la Cité, which should reopen its doors at the start of the school year in September. For the duration of the works, the events and shows that were to be held there will for the most part be relocated to the Vieux Saint-Etienne theater, located just next door.
Formerly the People’s House, the hall of the City had already been occupied for several days by students in 2016 at the time of the Labor Law. After four years of work, for a total cost of 1.7 million euros, the facility reopened to the public in September 2020.