La Gaîté Lyrique, a cultural venue run by the City of Paris with a committed program, has been closed to the public for an indefinite period since December 17. The reason? Hundreds of homeless people from the"Collectif des jeunes du parc de Belleville" are occupying the space. Although programming continued for a few days despite the occupation, the structure had to close,"as the situation no longer allowed us to welcome the public in the best possible conditions".
But as February approaches, the venue's management has indicated that it will cease management of the site without intervention from the authorities by Friday February 28."La Gaîté Lyrique SAS and its teams will be forced to leave the building and suspend the performance of contracts with service providers in charge of fire safety, security, hygiene and cleanliness, maintenance and waste collection", they said.
This ultimatum comes as the employees have finally exercised their right of withdrawal, "assessing that the situation today constitutes a serious and imminent danger for them, for the people occupying the premises and for the building", despite their"support for management" throughout. They warned that the situation is now"explosive and undignified", denouncing "unbearable promiscuity" which is leading to violence "increasing in severity and frequency".
The establishment "regrets the sudden and sudden nature of this occupation, but reiterates the legitimacy of the collective's demand for a roof over their heads" and"strongly condemnsthe inaction and inability to dialogue between the City of Paris and State services". The Gaité Lyrique"does not have the space or sanitary facilities to provide these people with a solution that respects human dignity", but considered it unthinkable to throw them out on the street in the middle of December.
Location
La Gaîté Lyrique
3 Rue Papin
75002 Paris 2
Access
Metro line 3 or 4 "Réaumur-Sébastopol" station
Official website
www.gaite-lyrique.net
