“For the young inhabitants of Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis), I want what worked with my children: the best. This sentence, Thierry Meignen, mayor (Free!) Since 2014, repeats it to whoever wants to hear it. What “worked” with the children of the city council? Chess and classical music. So, after having installed chess boards in the timetable of all elementary schools in the city, he launched the construction of a new school of “musical excellence”. First entry this Monday January 4.
Built on the edge of the Cité Floréal, “one of the poorest districts of the city”, the Chevalier-de-Saint-George school – named after an 18th century musician nicknamed the “black Mozart” – stands out first by its neoclassical architecture. “I wanted to put a real monument in the center of the village”, welcomes the mayor. In the gray environment of Blanc-Mesnil, “without a notable monument”, concedes the city councilor, the brand new school establishment stands out: all-wood frame, pastel-colored facing stones, large windows, vegetable garden on the roof, all surmounted by a high steeple visible from the expressway. Cost of the operation: 20 million euros.
10 kindergarten classes, 13 primary classes
For this first start, which was to take place last September, but was postponed because of Covid-19, 230 children will invest the premises, in 10 kindergarten and 13 primary classes. “There will be a rise in power over the years”, specifies the entourage of Thierry Meignen. Where do the students come from? First, the kindergarten installed on the other side of the street, which must be destroyed as soon as the new school begins. “There will also be Blanc-Mesnilois children so far enrolled in two schools in neighboring towns, school card required”, adds the mayor.
And music in all that ? Initially, it will be given at the rate of one hour per week, from CP to CM2, by professors from the conservatory. “There will also be the possibility of practicing extra hours within the framework of the extracurricular”, still indicates Thierry Meignen. Some of these students already have musical training.
Thus, the architect, Pierre Durand-Perdriel, designed an auditorium in the heart of the school, with mobile bleachers and specific sound. “And each class has the name of a famous musician,” he explains. Instruments of all kinds will be left permanently and scores run along the corridors. On the walls, portraits of musicians. “Everything breathes music here,” sums up the architect.
“Music and Le Blanc-Mesnil are a real story,” adds Thierry Meignen. We set up the festival a few years ago Symphony on the Grass, an open-air classical concert, which drew 10,000 spectators last year. “
“With this school, the whole neighborhood is going to change”
Beyond training musical prodigies, this new establishment is also a way for the city council to change the face of the neighborhood.
Newsletter The essential of 93
A tour of current events in Seine-Saint-Denis and the IDF
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First by the building: in addition to the school, a wooded park of two hectares will be planted in place of the destroyed kindergarten, along the city of Floréal. Two towers of these will also be destroyed and replaced by buildings for home ownership. Because for Thierry Meignen, gentrification is not a bad word. He assumes it: “The objective with the overhaul of this district, which, until then, was 100% in social housing, is to make 50% HLM, 50% home ownership”, explains- he, recalling that a few hundred meters away is the Bourget business airport. “With this school, the whole neighborhood will change,” he promises.
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