Home » News » Station hub, Off and On, around the cathedral… The priority projects of the mayor of Chartres in 2022

Station hub, Off and On, around the cathedral… The priority projects of the mayor of Chartres in 2022

After two years of pandemic, the mayor of Chartres and president of the Agglomeration, Jean-Pierre Gorges, seems to have ants in his legs: “For twenty years, we went all the way, for the next twenty years, we will accelerate “, he launches as a challenge, at 68 years old.

In what state of mind are you approaching the year 2022?

I have had a positive mind since I was little. I sleep little, I think a lot. I’m always planning things for my city, my family, my personal situation. I like solving problems. I approach this year 2022 with my youth of 2001! There are a lot of construction sites.

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Where are the works of the cultural and sports complex at the station?

The station hub is booming. We begin to see the forms of the cultural and sports complex. For the moment, things are going well, we are more or less on schedule.

We may be a little late. We would like the cultural and sports complex to be open for September 2023. It may be between September and December 2023.

Next door, how is the car park work going?

Parking will be done on time. It can be finished by the end of 2022. After that, the intermodal node will have to be developed (Editor’s note: the platform which will host, among other things, public transport). We are also going to build the road that will go from Compa to rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jean.

This will change the entire savings district which will be protected by this route. We are wondering about putting paid parking in this area so that it is a little more residential. People come from far and wide to park here. The blue zone is not sufficient.

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Will the first theatrical companies soon be welcomed into the Off, housed in the former ABC cinema?

It was supposed to open in October 2021, but there was the Covid which delayed the work a little. We also have some finishing issues. It was necessary to break and start again the tiling of the entrance. The facade is not finished. I prefer it to be done well. I have no pressure to open it. It will be in March or April.

Have you relaunched the project to create On, in the former natural history museum?

“We are going to do the On, which will be the counterpart of the Off for the music. The two places will be managed by the same structure, C’Chartres Spectacles.”

Jean Pierre Gorges (mayor of Chartres and president of the Agglomeration)

We are going to set up a 150-seat auditorium and four acoustically adapted rooms, with the possibility of finding recording tools open to all musical genres. The architect Guillaume Trouvé had drawn up plans for a total amount of 1.5 million euros. We resume the project by simplifying it. For 1 million euros, we must be able to do something good.

Where will you exhibit the collections of the former natural history museum?

I would like us to have a museum of archeology and the history of Chartres at the abbeys of Saint-Brice and in the two buildings Renouard-Saint-Loup and Reverdy. The collections of the museum will be presented in this place.

I asked the director of archeology to put the department’s operating accounts in order. There is a drift of activity. I claim that archeology should be a balanced activity. The balance subsidy of 1 million euros that must be paid is too high.

What is the status of the renovation project of the Museum of Fine Arts?

We are moving slowly. The restoration cost is estimated at ten million euros. We will spread it over several years. The curator will make a program so that the museum does not close during the works. It will be necessary to free up spaces in the museum. A conservation and study center will be set up in the premises of the local Mission. This will leave rue Vincent-Chevard to join the old one-stop shop, boulevard Chasles.

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Is the development project for the esplanade of the cathedral still under study?

It’s a complicated project. The idea is to start by excavating the entire esplanade and looking for Roman remains, then to develop the museum space above.

“It will take time to excavate, about a year and a half to two years. In the meantime, I am not wasting time. I want to redo the whole tour of the cathedral cloister.”

Jean Pierre Gorges (mayor of Chartres and president of the Agglomeration)

What is it going to consist of?

We are going to remove the bitumen to redevelop the spaces in front of the North portals, then the South and finally the royal portal. I postponed other road projects to do this as a priority. Network studies have been carried out. We have to know which stones we are going to put. In less than two years, it can be done again.

After the one-stop shop opened to the public on November 22, the City of Chartres is preparing to put the second part of the new administrative center into service. “Normally, the whole back office opens on March 1st”, announces Jean-Pierre Gorges. These new spaces will accommodate employees of the City, the Agglomeration and their satellites. There is also a reception hall, an administrative restaurant and the municipal police supervision centre.

Helen Bonnet

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