The Béziers halls close this Saturday: a page turns in the eventful history of this building

Une page se tourne dans l'histoire des halles de Béziers. Midi Libre – NICOLAS GAZO

The Béziers halls are closing their doors this Saturday, February 3, for eight months of renovation work. They will reopen with a different face. A page is turning in the history of this building which has always been in the hearts of Biterrois and at the center of discussions among elected officials. A little history.  

This Saturday noon, the Béziers halls close for eight months of major renovation work for a budget of 16 million euros. Next fall, the building, which is owned by the City, will reopen to the public in a completely new configuration and, for the first time in its history, will be managed by a private provider, the Biltoki company. A solution chosen by Mayor Robert Ménard to revitalize the place. A page turns. And when it was time to film it, while the twenty or so traders dismantled their equipment and left their stalls – some without really knowing if they would come back – we can recall to what extent the markets have always been at the heart of political discussions in the city.

"Inseparable from the neighborhood"

The building, built in 1891 by the architects Carlier, in the heart of the city, of the Baltard type, has stood the test of time. &quot ;The market halls are inseparable from the district", underlines Jean-Michel Du Plaa. The former socialist opposition elected official, ex-vice-president of the Department, has been frequenting the Béziers halls for 35 years. He knows their history well and has also observed their decline since the advent of supermarkets on the outskirts. Today, in a neighborhood where many people live below the poverty line, with a clientele, during the week, mainly made up of elderly people, the challenge The leap towards the future is therefore major. But the halls have seen others…

"The biggest budget overrun in the Fontès municipality"

Under the municipality of Balmigère – at the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s – a project to create a parking lot in place of the market halls sparked an outcry and did not take place. #39;will never succeed. Robert Ménard also recalled this episode and the protest in which he took part in the municipal council recently.  

"Under Fontès, in the 1980s, the largest renovation project for the halls took place. And they were classified as Bâtiments de France. This was the biggest budget overrun for the Fontès municipality, there were a lot of additional costs for the development work in the basements which accommodate parking spaces, laboratories, spaces storage", remembers Jean-Michel Du Plaa. The building was built on the site of the Saint-Félix church, razed in 1815, and its medieval cemetery.  

"The gourmet market project on Place Jaurès: it was an outcry!"

The construction of the Madeleine underground car park, primarily to allow customers of the halls to park, will however have negative consequences on the neighborhood: "L&#39 ;church was destabilized, closed for 15 years. The square has become mineral and the traders of Madeleine have left for the Allées…"

Raymond Couderc, for his part, had tried to entrust management to a private sector via a DSP (public service delegation). But no satisfactory solution emerged and the town hall ultimately retained control. A project for gourmet markets arose on Place Jaurès: "It was an outcry. And what to do with the old building ? I suggested installing an antenna of the Orsay Museum there , laughs Jean-Michel Du Plaa. "The municipality had raised the possibility of establishing La Poste there…" It won't be the case. The sequel continues to be written today. 

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