After the failure of two restoration projects, the municipality takes control of the Gare du Sud. The historic building is set to house a multidisciplinary cultural center starting in 2026. However, this announcement has also entered the political debate as municipal elections approach.
The Gare du Sud, at the heart of the Libération district, has already experienced several transformations. Transformed into a gourmet hall in 2017, it later hosted Mediterraneo, an expansive Mediterranean restaurant. Both ventures ended in closures, the first for health reasons and the second due to lack of visitors. The Nice municipality has decided to turn the page. They are buying back the building’s lease and ending the culinary venture, except for an Italian restaurant that will remain on site.
Mayor Christian Estrosi has defended this cultural shift. “We clearly see that food courts, which were popular about ten years ago, are no longer necessarily in vogue,” he explained. According to the municipality, the aim is to give a lasting function to “this heritage that collectively belongs to the people of Nice.”
The project, with an announced cost of ten million euros, will be presented at the municipal council on October 1st. It is planned to open in 2026. The program includes a central agora “for gathering, discussing, sharing,” exhibition and performance spaces, a toy library, and a café with a newsstand. The idea is to transform the former station into a meeting and cultural dissemination place, accessible to neighborhood residents and visitors alike.
A Project at the Heart of the Political Struggle
This new direction is not only a cultural issue. It fits into a political context marked by next March’s municipal elections. Éric Ciotti, an already declared candidate, has also presented his vision for the future of the Gare du Sud. He aims to install a theater modeled after the National Theater of Nice, demolished in 2022 to make way for the green corridor.
The proposal was met with skepticism by some cultural actors. “The Gare du Sud does not have the necessary space to accommodate a theater worthy of a National Drama Center,” said Muriel Mayette-Holtz, director of the TNN, noting that the building’s configuration does not allow for a large-scale performance space.
The Viva! association criticizes the succession of projects led over the past ten years around the Gare du Sud. “With Christian Estrosi, the Gare du Sud has become a large financial waste. Instead of managing the site directly from the start, he successively validated two economic fiascos and caused the Libération district to lose precious years,” accuses the collective.
According to Viva!, the buyback of the lease and the presentation of a ten-million-euro project appear to be election-driven hasty decisions. The association believes that “there is an urgent need to stop hasty projects” and calls for a public consultation. “The people of Nice should have been consulted on the future of the TNN and Acropolis. They must be consulted on the future of the Gare du Sud,” the statement continues.
An Uncertain Symbolic Future
Beyond political differences, the Gare du Sud remains an emblematic place. Built at the end of the 19th century, it was long a railway hub before falling into disuse. Its transformation into a district facility has been presented as a way to preserve a historic building. But its future struggles to stabilize.
The failure of the gourmet hall, like that of Mediterraneo, has marked the district and fueled criticism of municipal management. The move to a cultural orientation represents an attempt to reconcile history, heritage, and contemporary usage.
The question remains whether this project will successfully take root and convince residents. Between the promise of a “lively, family-friendly, popular venue” advocated by the city hall, the competing theater proposal defended by Éric Ciotti, and the call for a public consultation put forth by Viva!, the Gare du Sud becomes a political and cultural issue alike.
Its future will depend as much on municipal choices as on the ability to involve the population in the decision-making process. By 2026, the building will continue to embody the hesitations and tensions surrounding the redevelopment of Nice’s city center.
