In Toulouse, residents want to preserve the Vion barracks, an example of 20th century architecture
“No to the sale of the Vion barracks! No to the sale of the historical heritage of Toulouse! For the development of a pole of public services and a strategic and long-term management of the land of our city! “This is how it begins the online petition received three weeks ago by the collective Sauvons la barracks Vion, which has collected nearly 900 signatures to date.
This action follows the decision of the city council of Toulouse, on April 1, to put up for sale this barracks, built between 1966 and 1972, described by the petitioners as a “heritage and architectural pearl” which they wish to see remain in the public domain. The barracks, designed by the Toulouse architect Pierre Debeaux, has notably been classified as a remarkable monument of the 20th century by the Drac.
In its deliberation, the Town Hall of Toulouse, owner since 1955 of the real estate complex on which the Vion barracks were built, which today houses the Sdis de Haute-Garonne, explains that “the rehabilitation of the site would be too expensive for this complex and aging building complex. This is why it (…) is proposed to yield. »
If the Town Hall wishes to launch a consultation with the promoters, two opposition groups, Toulouse ecologist, solidarity & citizen (Tesc) and Alternative municipal citizen (AMC), wanted the safeguard of the Vion barracks in the public domain.
Composed in particular of 85 apartments intended to accommodate firefighters, a 1,200 m2 hall, a 110 m2 amphitheater, a gymnasium and a swimming pool, the complex offers “tremendous possibilities for developing a large public service hub, which could be concerted with the inhabitants and inhabitants to stick to the needs of the district”, according to the text of the petition.
The Save the Vion barracks collective, which regrets the lack of consultation, therefore wishes that the Town Hall “commits to a work of co-construction with the inhabitants and inhabitants and all the associative and economic actors” for the future of the site.