During the municipal council of October 1, 2025, all 26 resolutions of the day were adopted. Three were subjects of debate: the future of the Gare du Sud, tram line 5, and the future Nicolas Sarkozy police hotel.
A return to the council table after a four-month absence. Since the last session, dated May 23, 2025, there was high anticipation on several Nice policy issues. One of them triggered a strong reaction from the opposition, the future of the Gare du Sud, Place de la Libération.
Gare du Sud: towards a multidisciplinary cultural center
Since the 2000s, the iconic site of the Gare du Sud has seen a series of failed projects. After several unsuccessful attempts, the municipality decided to turn the page and establish a multidisciplinary cultural center through an amicable termination of the emphyteutic lease. This new center would be organized around a central agora with a library, a game library, a comic library, and an art library, with the ambition of reviving the space.
However, in the opposition, criticisms abounded. Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, president of the ecologist elected officials, condemned it as \”once again a 180-degree turn, without ever owning up to past failures or learning from your own choices.” She accused the city of designing the project “in isolation,” without real consultation with residents or transparency about the cost of terminating the emphyteutic lease.
Jean Moucheboeuf, city councilor, lambasted the “triple exploitation failure” and wants to propose an alternative: “In the morning, a real covered market showcasing our artisans and producers. In the afternoon and evening, events, performances, a lively venue for everyone.” Similar sentiments were expressed by Gaëlle Frontoni, who highlighted “nearly 30 million euros lost by the community.”
In response to these attacks, Christian Estrosi highlighted his role in saving the building: “We are debating something that should not be one since 1993. I claim to be the one who saved the Gare du Sud from demolition by asking the culture minister at the time to prevent its destruction.”
He also assured that the project had the support of neighborhood committees and dismissed the criticisms from his rival Eric Ciotti in the upcoming 2026 municipal elections, who wanted to establish a large theater there: “With a stage of a National Grand Theater which alone would take up more than half the space of the Gare du Sud. This would leave only 350 spectator seats, which is fewer than the Franciscans’ theater at Place Saint-François. Is that the National Grand Theater that Mr. Ciotti dreams of for Nice?”
Tramway: line 5 approved on ecological and environmental grounds
The second major issue, that of the tramway line 5, which will connect Nice to Drap along the Paillon valley, serving notably the neighborhoods of Bon Voyage and Ariane.
Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux emphasized the health emergency, “The data confirms that the levels of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide are extremely high in the valley. It is therefore essential to complete this project, for the health of local residents and also to break the isolation of our territory.”
Gaël Nofri, deputy mayor in charge of transport, defended the relevance of the line against alternative proposals: “No road solution could relieve the congestion of the Paillons. Only this line can address it.” According to him, the introduction of the tram will prevent the emission of 2,000 tons of CO2 per year, with an environmental impact considered “negligible.”
Jean-Marc Governatori, city councilor, had suggested strengthening the bus network instead of investing in the tramway, but this option was rejected.
A police hotel named Nicolas Sarkozy
The last decision of a municipal council lasting 4 hours and 45 minutes was not the least significant. It dealt with the choice to name the future large municipal and national police hotel after Nicolas Sarkozy. The choice was validated despite two interventions.
For Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, this initiative has “no legal significance” and is merely “a communication stunt.” She criticized the city for honoring “a person definitively convicted” while several judicial cases are still ongoing. Hélène Granouillac also contested this decision, suggesting instead that we honor the law enforcement forces mobilized during the attacks or storm Alex.
Christian Estrosi responded by standing by this choice: “If we had to scrutinize the past of every personality to whom we’ve given street names, we would never stop renaming arteries.”
Air traffic controllers in the mayor’s sights
During the session, Christian Estrosi also indicated that at the next municipal council, he would ask the State to replace the air traffic controllers of Nice airport with military personnel: “The air traffic controllers and the DGAC which is unable to manage them, enough is enough.”
