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The controversial project of renovation and transformation of the Gare du Nord in Paris has reached a new stage with the green light given to its commercial component, even if its opponents do not admit defeat.
The National Commission for Commercial Development ( CNAC ) finally validated the project, according to a decision posted online Friday, paving the way for the issuance of the building permit.
The body met on Thursday to examine this controversial project led by SNCF Gares & Connexions and the property of Auchan, Ceetrus, which includes the construction of shops, offices and cultural facilities. It was pronounced after the unfavorable opinion issued in June by the Departmental Commission of commercial development.
" Pauperize what already exists ... "
The gigantic construction site provides a real facelift of Europe's first 155-year-old station, which is frequented by 700,000 passengers every day.
For 600 million euros, the project provides a green roof terrace of one hectare overlooking the Sacré Coeur, with a trail trail, parking for 2,000 bicycles, a large transverse nave.
With an additional 88,000 m2, the Gare du Nord should reach a total area of 124,000 m2, including 46,000 m2 dedicated to a theater, cultural facilities, a gym or shops and offices.
CNAC's decision only related to the commercial component, which consists of an " extension of 16,321 m2 ", according to the notice posted online.
But this project is very controversial. The City of Paris, which initially supported it, then opposed it, judging it too commercial, and did not exclude to lodge an appeal " if the dialogue does not allow to make it evolve ", Prime Minister Emmanuel Grégoire told AFP on Thursday.
" These immense commercial surfaces that will be created at the Gare du Nord will be at the expense of the balance that exists elsewhere in the capital. [...] It will impoverish what already exists , "says RFI Jean-François Cabestan, architect of the heritage and historian of architecture at the University Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne
" Ultraprioritaire " or " unacceptable "
About twenty renowned architects, including Jean Nouvel and Roland Castro ( " a monstrous project " ), also found it "unacceptable" and "pharaonic", in a forum published in Le Monde in early September, asking that it be "Redesigned from the ground up".
SNCF and StatioNord, the group responsible for the project, welcomed on Friday the decision of the CNAC, an "important step in obtaining the building permit," in a statement sent to AFP. They also say they want to "maintain a permanent dialogue with all of their partners".
The president of the Ile-de-France and Ile-de-France Mobilités region Valérie Pécresse also showed her support for the project, calling it " ultraprioritaire ".
The outgoing president of SNCF Guillaume Pepy had put forward the " urgency to desaturate the station " beyond the controversy on the commercial side. The Gare du Nord is indeed a real crossroads: the trains of the northern suburbs alongside TER northern regions, high-speed trains from Belgium and the Channel, and three subway lines.
( With AFP )