Behind the new CDI, a pergola has emerged from the ground. Soon, it will be covered with climbing plants, to create a shady corner. A place conducive to the development of outdoor lesson times, or “so that children can read outside, when we have higher temperatures”underlines Marc Fleuret, president of the departmental council, on this Tuesday, January 21, 2025, during the inaugural visit at the end of the work, to the La Fayette college in Châteauroux.
In Buzançais, 20 million euros for the new college
The finished work, “only the development of green spaces will remain”underlines Vincent Laumond, principal of the college. “The students were involved in the decisions,” he points out, pointing to the new pétanque court, installed “at their request”. This work took place as part of an overall renovation of the establishment, costing six million euros – including 4.5 for the Department – which includes exterior insulation and changing the heating system. , the creation of new classrooms, a playground and bicycle shelters, as well as the installation of 200 m2 of solar panels.
These will allow the college to cover its own electricity consumption. A common point in the renovations of the Indre colleges. The objective is clear, for Marc Fleuret: we must “reduce the carbon impact of colleges”. “We have a budget of 30 million euros over ten years”recalls the president. Of the twenty-seven establishments today, “There are around ten left to renovate”.
College ready in 2028?
Once the work has been completed in La Fayette, it will be the turn of Condorcet in Levroux and Frédéric-Chopin in Aigurande to get an energetic makeover. But the biggest project to come is that of the complete reconstruction of the Sablons college in Buzançais. The structure of the establishment, which dates from the 1960s, “no longer does the job, we have to rebuild everything”underlines Régis Blanchet, mayor of the city. “The teachers heard their colleagues giving lessons through the walls”he points out, as proof of dilapidation.
-In terms of timing, the mayor is considering a brand new college by 2028, after “one year of study, and two years of work”. It will of course be necessary “stagger it all”so as not to paralyze the largest college in the department, which welcomes nearly 500 students this year. The total amount of this work is estimated at 20 million euros, which will make it the Department's second largest investment in 2025.
As for the Châteauroux colleges, “we’re almost done”estimates the mayor, Gil Avérous. Only the Jean-Monet and Capuchin colleges remain. The latter having “suffered hail” during the violent storm which hit the city in May 2022, “we are redoing all the slate roofs”explains Christian Arberet, director of buildings at the Department. For Jean-Monet, the scale of the task is greater, since it involves, as in La Fayette, a large energy renovation, including the repair of all the roofs, the installation of photovoltaic panels, and exterior insulation.
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