Work continues on the Port of Nice side. The future Congress Center should be delivered by next April, and will subsequently host the United Nations Ocean Summit in June. Site visit.
Passers-by must have already seen large metal barriers on the Infernet quay. Just behind, major works, which began in September, are currently taking place. This is the future Convention Center, a new infrastructure which should be delivered at the end of April.
Made up of three buildings with a maritime terminal – in two spaces – of 3,800 m², as well as a multi-purpose room of 3,600 m² with 2,200 seats, it will host the third United Nations Ocean Conference, from June 9 to 13, 2025 This Friday, December 20, in the afternoon, a visit to the site was offered.
“In January: the first installations”
“We are really seven-eight meters below the level of the old parking lot” specifies François Bertrand, general director of technical services for the City. “There were storage places there. Everything was covered and closed. For the deconstruction operation, we first removed everything inside, particularly the asbestos…”
In total, “ten thousand tons of rubble” will be reused. “They will be used as an underlay, either here, for the Promenade du Paillon construction site, or elsewhere in the metropolis. Same thing for the scrap metal, there are some left, we will remelt them. C 'is recycling.'
Currently, “we make the foundations on which the different constructions will be installed”. Because yes, from January 6, the first installation work will be launched. “We will erect, via the crane, the two buildings, the maritime and storage station, then via a self-supporting system, the large hall.” The set should be delivered “April 30”. As a reminder, most “elements are built off-site and will be assembled on site. This ensures very high speed”.
Several events in the pipeline?
A project that must be completed in record time. “Delivery is scheduled for the end of April, in order to be fully operational for the summit” specifies the president of the Metropolis, Christian Estrosi. After New York in 2017 and Lisbon, in 2022, it will therefore be the turn of Nice. Subsequently, “from September”the structure can “host both congresses that will feed the city's economy” as well as cultural events – “opera, theater, ballet…”
“We already have the first reservations. In September, we will have the great Grand Pavois de la Rochelle (the Nice Boating Tomorrow). For the first time, not in the Atlantic, but in the Mediterranean. In October, it will be the summit of tourism in France. The Opera is offering us, between December and January, to produce and perform shows here. For the next two years, we have nearly sixty requests.
Additionally, during the 2030 Winter Olympics, “the international Olympic committee chose this location to make it the centralization of the entire media center”. Regarding the cost of the project, “20 million euros”the community has already delivered four different versions. “The financing will be provided by the users of the Port” assures Christian Estrosi. “But also through the revenue that the tourist tax provides us through the Metropolitan Tourist Office. This will allow us to amortize this achievement in a year and a half, or even two.”
