The municipality took advantage of the school holidays to undertake 160 maintenance and renovation operations in its schools. Focus on Jean Macé school, one of the 87 institutions in Nice to have benefited from work this summer.
As soon as you enter the nursery school, the smell of fresh paint tickles your nose, it smells new and like the start of the school year. The new features are already visible; in addition to the paint on the wall, whose color was left up to the teachers to choose, a canopy has been installed to protect the entrance, rue Général Tordo, from bad weather. This summer, the Jean Macé school group, located in the Pasteur district of Nice, received a makeover, like 87 schools in the city.
More than 3.9 million euros were dedicated to 160 projects of modernization, renovation, beautification, and greening during the summer break. Here, the 2023 construction budget for the establishment, which consists of two primary schools and a nursery school, amounts to 365,000 euros, with 70% invested this summer.
“In recent years, there has been spectacular work done on educational comfort, but also on anticipating climate evolution,” rejoices Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice.
Rehabilitating former staff housing
Very representative of the variety of operations carried out in Niçois schools, the Jean Macé school group has benefited from both indoor and outdoor projects. Indoors, the city is particularly tackling the rehabilitation of disused apartments within the schools.
Once occupied by staff or teachers, they have become vacant over time. For the new school year, at the Louis Fiori school, a caretaker will move into one of these renovated spaces, the first time in twenty years for this establishment.
Within the Jean Macé elementary school 1, the ground-floor staff accommodation has been transformed into an administrative center. The nursery’s accommodation has been repurposed into a teachers’ lounge and two classrooms.
Greening the playgrounds
The city of Nice has invested nearly 150,000 euros to green the three playgrounds of the Jean Macé group. The operation commenced this summer with a 40% reduction in asphalted surface. “Greening is not just about planting trees, it’s about ensuring water can resume its natural course“, explains Pierre Fiori. The deputy mayor sub-delegate for school works adds: “60% of the rainwater that previously went into the sewers now replenishes the aquifers.”
To create coolness and shade, a dozen varieties of plants will be placed in the playgrounds this autumn. This will also help lower the temperature in the classrooms by reducing reflectivity.
Flowering ash, almond trees, fig trees, Jerusalem sage, and New Zealand iris have their locations already determined, only awaiting the right season to be planted. A space has also been fenced off; it will accommodate the future educational garden.
“These areas where we removed the tarmac change the children’s behavior, we see they are calmer and more relaxed, allowing us to create relaxation areas with the teachers where classes can also be held outdoors“, he shares.
“By the end of 2023, 22 schools will have benefited from a greening project,” assures the municipality. From 2021 to 2026, the budget allocated to the greening of public school playgrounds in Nice will amount to 3 million euros.
“After waterproofing, sanitation, painting, playground greening, equipment modernization, and canteen renovation, we already know that the next major work phase for the Jean Macé school group will be the renovation of the framework and roof,” announces Pierre Fiori, deputy mayor sub-delegate for school works.
By the end of Christian Estrosi’s term in 2026, the municipality plans to have invested a total of one million euros in this establishment of 650 students.
