It’s not official, but the story is already causing quite a stir. Nice-Matin announced on its front page on Friday, December 8: “Acropolis goes private.” According to the regional daily, the international leader of the national market, the GL Events Group, will become the concessionaire of the Acropolis Palais. The final decision will be proclaimed at the next city council meeting on December 20.
Reactions have been swift since then. First, Jacques Peyrat, the Senator of Nice, denied this information. Then, following the call of the three unions SYNPTAC-CGT, FO, and CFE-CGC, employees went on strike for two days on Tuesday to protest against the privatization of “the Boat” (the nickname of the Acropolis Palais) and the possibility of restructuring and therefore job losses (40 out of 100). In 2004, the unions had already successfully opposed the management of the Palais by the GL Events Group. A repeat performance?
Senator Mayor Jacques Peyrat does not appreciate attempts to overturn the takeover project again. Meanwhile, Rudy Salles, UDF deputy of Nice, reacted by siding with the unions and opposing the first magistrate of the Azure City: “By calling them gluttons, when they are professionals who have always worked in the interest of their working tool, Mr. Peyrat shows his contempt for the Acropolis staff, representing several dozen Nice families, living and working in Nice, paying their taxes in Nice, and contributing to the development of their city.” In the same statement, the deputy, a candidate for his re-election and mayoralty, discusses the management of Acropolis: “The decline in activity at the Palais des Congrès in recent years is due to the fact that the City of Nice has continually disengaged. Indeed, the municipal subsidies intended for investment and used for the continuous renovation of the Palais have disappeared. 
Consequently, Acropolis has become an aging Palais that has significantly lost its competitiveness compared to its competitors. It is not the management of the Palais that should be blamed, and even less the staff, but rather the irresponsible attitude of the municipality that abandoned Acropolis a long time ago.” Rudy Salles, just like for the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, advocates for entrusting its management to a mixed economy company.
He concludes his statement by asking the Mayor:
“- To apologize to the Acropolis staff.
– To defer the decision to privatize Acropolis, which must be examined by the City Council on December 20.
– To commit that the City of Nice invests again to bring Acropolis up to the level of its main competitors and considers the creation of a link between the Palais des Congrès and the Palais des Expositions, which alone would allow the creation of the first “Congrès-Expositions” space in Europe and make the Nice destination competitive again.
– Finally, to seriously consider creating a mixed economy company for the management of Acropolis.”
Pending the final decision and the appointment of the new managers, the rocking boat of Acropolis has not finished causing reactions. Reactions that Nice-Première will report on.
