The city of Draguignan (Var), transforms its museum of art and history into a museum of fine arts. Installed since 1888 in the former Summer Palace of Monseigneur du Bellay (1703-1775), bishop of Fréjus, the Museum of Art and History of Draguignan had no real identity and, above all, presented chefs -work in a time-worn building.
The city has therefore decided to renovate the building that houses it and to rename it to highlight its masterpieces. Mayor Richard Strambio (in office since 2014) entrusted curator Grégoire Hallé with the task of bringing the project to fruition. They hope to open it in 2023.
Work began in October 2018. It should have been completed in March 2020, but the site was delayed. In October 2020, the company responsible for carrying out the structural work no longer gave any sign of life. “We had to terminate the contract”, indicated at the time the deputy mayor in charge of culture Hugues Bonnet. The site, stopped for nine months, resumed in June 2021 with another team. The mayor hopes to see the work completed by the end of 2022 for an opening scheduled for early 2023.
The museum building forms two wings raised on three levels. One has 500 m2 to exhibit its permanent collections. The other devotes 200 m2 to temporary exhibition rooms and deploys in the space that remains to it an auditorium, the museum’s reserves, an educational room, the ticket office, the shop and offices. In a building currently being renovated, the future Museum of Fine Arts in Draguignan will be able to display more works than did the old Museum of Art and History of the city. And this with new mediation devices. “Four terminals will make it possible to apprehend the works in relief. Braille explanations and audioguides are also provided.says the person in charge of the public of the museum Thomas Gicomoni.
Initially estimated at 5 million euros, the cost of the work soared as the site fell behind schedule. He is now valued at 7 million euros. “But the project is worth the effort. He is magnificent “, says Grégoire Hallé. The municipality finances nearly 30% of the work. The rest is paid for by the State (20%), the region (20%), the department (18%), the so-called Dracénoise agglomeration (15%) and finally the Enedis company (8%).
As soon as the Draguignan Museum of Fine Arts opens, it will have to find a new curator for its collections. Because Grégoire Hallé, who was hired four years ago for his prefiguration, was asked last year to join the Museum of Fine Arts in Chartres.
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