In the surrounding chaos, the doors of the Europe district town hall are forced open, and trash cans set alight in the hall. Only the intervention of the firefighters will prevent the building, inaugurated in 2008, from being reduced to ashes. But the damage was significant: the windows exploded, soot invaded the entire building, and the domiciliation files of the municipal social action center (CCAS) were charred. Unsuitable for welcoming the public, the site is closed “until further notice”.
“I discovered the damage on Thursday morning when I arrived at work. We were all stunned,” recalls Arnaud Botquelen, head of the local town hall. A feeling shared by the twenty or so agents usually occupying these walls, and the mayor of Brest, François Cuillandre, who came to see the damage on the morning of June 29. “A town hall is a symbol, all the same,” he still notes today. For the moment, the perpetrator(s) of the attack have not been arrested.
€813,000 of work
Eighteen months after these disastrous incidents, the aftershocks of which shook the city and its most sensitive neighborhoods for four nights, the Europe district town hall is preparing to reopen its doors. The agents, rehoused since November 2023 at the Maison des associations in Pen-ar-Créac’h, will gradually return to the site during the week of January 6, 2025, during which the services will be closed to the public. The local town hall will finally reopen its doors to the public a week later, on January 13.
The longest is still the negotiations with insurance companies, from which we expect part of the costs to be covered.
Some €813,000 of work and acquisition of furniture were necessary to erase the scars of the fire, with a project that mobilized a dozen companies. “But the longest part is still the negotiations with insurance companies, from which we expect part of the costs to be covered. And for the moment, we have received nothing from the State,” points out François Cuillandre.
Among the main items of expenditure are the replacement of electrical, heating and ventilation networks, the replacement of entrance doors, interior and exterior joinery, part of the floors, false ceilings and insulation, without forget about the painting work on the entire building…
New layout
Users will discover a neighborhood town hall with slightly modified layouts. “We took advantage of this closure to modernize reception and flow logic,” defends Tristan Foveau, deputy mayor in charge of the district. The layout of the reception and civil status area has been redesigned, in addition to the creation of a space dedicated to citizen participation and digital support.
“It will do the teams good to come back here,” anticipates Arnaud Botquelen. Users will also find the multi-service mediation information point (Pimms) in Pontanézen, as well as the offices of the Defender of Rights and the justice conciliator.
