An additional 300 m2, two lounges and a 100-seat room: the Grand Narbonne funeral home is expanding to meet the expectations of families

There are four of them waiting until they are put into beer this Thursday, November 28. The rest of Alain, 77 years old; Dolores, 95 years old; Jeanine, 81 years old; Mireille, 81, was somewhat disturbed by the inauguration of the extension of the funeral directors of Grand Narbonne, rue des Elysiques. At 5:30 p.m., the tricolor ribbon was cut on the additional 300 m2 which required almost a year of work and an investment of just under a million euros for the agglomeration after receiving the subsidy from the State of €187,872. The community is thus responding to the increase in days of occupation of the funeral center experiencing 35% additional activities in 2022 compared to the previous year.

“The quality of funeral support is essential”

To explain the improvements made to the building, Fabienne Martinage, vice-president of the Agglo in charge of Local Services and User Relations, first set the scene: “Death is not a failure, it It's a fact that when it happens, we are very rarely ready. Then comes grief, fear, the pain of absence. I firmly believe that the quality of funeral support is essential. to allow life to continue. Concerned about offering a quality service, Greater Narbonne has studied a project to improve the offer and services.

743 ceremonies celebrated in 2023

Thus, ceremonies adapted to the requests of families are possible in the 100 m2 multi-purpose room which can accommodate 100 people. The room is equipped with multimedia equipment for sound and image. “This equipment will be available to families in a territory of 130,000 inhabitants. In 2023, 743 ceremonies were carried out here by the fourteen agents of the funeral services of Greater Narbonne,” continued the mayor of Mirepeisset. In addition, two funeral homes have been created, bringing to six the number of rooms available all year round, 24 hours a day thanks to a badge for families.

For his part, Rémi Recio, sub-prefect of Narbonne, saluted the agglomeration and its agents for appeasing “this moment of passage and rite between the world of the living towards a beyond that everyone dresses as they want and according to convictions that are his. This fragility is at the heart of the vulnerability taken in the public service mission. The fifteen professionals are there to make this moment not sweeter but more bearable by relieving us of one. organizational part of something which relates to the unbearable”.