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The Muy Barracks could become the new home of the Marseille city hall, Source: TCY, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Benoît Payan has an idea to reorganize the work of the city administration
The Marseille City Hall is one of the southern French city’s most iconic buildings. Dating back to the times of Louis XIV, it has survived the upheavals of history – including the French Revolution and Nazi bombings during World War II – but last week, Mayor Benoît Payan announced that he would like to see the city hall move to another location with a view to recentralizing all municipal services in one spot.
According to Made in Marseille, the mayor first made this announcement in a rather surprising way by simply blurting it out to an unsuspecting audience while he was showing people around a new school. He turned around and pointed to the Muy Barracks (Caserne du Muy) nearby saying: “I have a plan to install the town hall there."
The building he brought to the public’s attention is also historic and an architectural jewel in its own right. Dating back to 1860, the Muy Barracks is the property of the French Army, which partly occupies it.
It also temporarily houses the criminal court for unusual trials. That lease will end in 2027, and it seems that the mayor has in mind to take over the space rented by the court to accommodate the municipal administration in the offices that will be freed up. Before this can become a reality, however, there will need to be negotiations with the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
The entire idea is apparently dictated by a need to make city management easier by re-centralizing various municipal services that are now located in different buildings throughout Marseille.
“The service directors are far from the mayor, which poses a problem in the governance and efficiency of the administration. And then, we rent a lot of premises here and there,” municipal officials offered an explanation behind the idea of the mayor.
If the move gets realized that doesn’t mean that the iconic Baroque building of the current City Hall will be abandoned. According to the plans, it will remain in the use of the local government but only for ceremonial purposes.
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