During the presentation of the renovation plan for Place Saint-François, Christian Estrosi was clear: the CGT will not return to the Aigle d’Or, which will be transformed into a Heritage Museum. This was confirmed at yesterday’s City Council meeting when a resolution to that effect was adopted, despite an intense plea from Robert Injey (Front de Gauche/PC) who unsuccessfully asked the Mayor of Nice to withdraw it.
Everyone agrees that the current situation of Place Saint-François is far from satisfactory.
Moreover, the long-standing scientific, heritage, memorial, and historical neglect that the buildings situated there have suffered demands a reversal of this trend with the launch of studies for requalification.
The problem arises when it comes to the annulment of the resolution from October 20, 1892, which allocated the former communal palace to the Labor Exchange, and that of April 12, 1954, concerning the allocation of the Aigle d’Or communal building to the same Labor Exchange.
However, the trigger was the annulment of the resolution from September 18, 2009, related to the transfer of the CGT to premises located at 34, Boulevard Jean Jaurès with a promise of reintegration to the Aigle d’Or once the renovation was completed.
The change in the Mayor’s direction is not accepted by the CGT (which occupies the premises of the Aigle d’Or) while the local PC stands in solidarity with the trade union center.
Final result: a dispute more about principle than the content of the decision, announced between the two rounds of the presidential election (but why?) and considered political retaliation following the CGT’s decision to urge voters to support François Hollande.
True or not, it is quite clear that such a case should be handled with tact to avoid offending others’ sensitivities, and not in a heavy-handed manner.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the focus or primary intention of the Mayor of Nice, hence this (unnecessary?) dispute, which has evidently spilled over into ideological stances ill-suited to the factual issue, whose outcome is linked to each individual’s psychology.
