It was an easy prediction to foresee harsh criticism from opponents of the project to build a Palace of Culture and Sports in place of the current Exhibition Palace.
They did not wait long to make themselves heard… Here is the response from the Nice at Heart list.
The readjustments made by Christian Estrosi, less than three weeks after announcing his green corridor 2 project, demonstrate the total unpreparedness with which he announced this project and lead me to react on three points.
Firstly, the idea of building a 1,000-seat theater at the Exhibition Palace shows that the transfer of the TNN to the Franciscans’ church can only be a transitional option given the significant loss of capacity, which ultimately threatens the status of our National Drama Center. We were therefore right on this point.
Moreover, the planned concert hall will have a significantly smaller capacity than the current Apollon hall and will be, at best, a substandard sports palace, more likely an “improved” Leyrit hall, incomparable to the Palais des Victoires in Cannes or the Palais des Sports in Antibes.
Finally, the Carnival museum proposed by Christian Estrosi is a promise he has made for 12 years, which was supposed to materialize at the Spada hall. During the press conference on January 23rd about the counterproject, we suggested relocating this Carnival museum and its workshops to the Exhibition Palace and partially funding the project through the sale of land at the Spada hall and the workshops on Richelmi Street. This is precisely what candidate Estrosi is proposing point by point today.
Patrick ALLEMAND
