The elected ecologists at the city council strongly opposed it at the end of October, with the support of Martine Bayard, the daughter of the architect who built the building. Roselyne Bachelot has just “authorized” the demolition of the National Theater of Nice (TNN) to extend the promenade du Paillon, she wrote in a letter to Christian Estrosi.
The Minister of Culture specifies all the same that “this authorization is issued subject to insurance than [la mairie pourra] will give [son] administration concerning the delivery in 2022 of the three pieces of equipment [de remplacement présentés par la mairie], necessary for the pursuit of the activity of the National Dramatic Center ”. Before adding: “I want continuity to be assured, particularly in the programming and in the work of the artistic teams. “
What about a room not delivered on time?
Conditions which cannot be “guaranteed” by the city, affirms Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, elected municipal EELV. “The demolition will start at the beginning of January but the last room at Iconic [le nouveau complexe en construction à côté de la gare de Nice-Ville] is not likely to be finished before the end of 2022 since it is still only scrap and concrete, she predicts. There will be no going back. It’s amazing that a Minister of Culture destroys a national theater. She shouldn’t have really thought about it. »She then recalls the action of Catherine Tasca, Socialist Minister of Culture in 2001, who had decided to take a precautionary measure for the safeguard of the South station of the railways of Provence.
An observation also made by the group Retrouver Nice. The elected RNs say they have written a letter to the minister “to inform her of the reality on the ground”. “He was asked to suspend his agreement to demolish until the effective entry into operation of the three structures promised by Christian Estrosi. A commitment that he cannot keep because Iconic will be at least one year behind schedule, also assures city councilor Jean Moucheboeuf. There will therefore be a long discontinuity of this public service that is the cultural offer in Nice. “
“Maintain sustained theatrical activity from January 3 to May 15, 2022”
Asked by 20 minutes on this point, the municipality emphasizes that the condition concerns “the date of delivery with assurances that the sites have been launched”. The Iconic room is therefore well planned for the end of 2022, according to her. The other equipment of the “diversified and complementary theatrical offer spread over the whole of the territory in return for the destruction of the theater” will be delivered in March and April 2022. This is the Salle des Franciscains, from 350 to 400 seats, and an ephemeral theater structure, 600 seats, installed to the west of the city. It is being put in place while waiting for the “large hall of 800 places of the new Palace of Arts and Culture. [qui remplacera l’actuel Palais des expositions après des travaux] from the 2025-2026 season ”.
While waiting for these new rooms, the town is providing TNN troops, whose demolition is scheduled for early January, the Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, the Lino Venture and Francis-Gag theaters but also the Forum Nice Nord to “conserve sustained theatrical activity from January 3 to May 15, 2022 ”.