Hôtel de Ville, Reims
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The Hôtel de ville is the town hall in the French city of Reims. Previously housing a museum, the city archives, a savings bank, a library, the city police, a tribunal and the chamber of commerce, it now only houses municipal services.[citation needed]
History
Previously meeting at different sites, the town council bought a building on the place du marché-aux-chevaux in 1499.[citation needed] This building soon became too small but a new one could not be built for lack of funds until a 22,000 livre debt was repaid to the city by the duke of Guise.[citation needed] Nicolas Lespagnol, the city inhabitants' lieutenant, laid the foundation stone on 18 June 1627 and the new building was constructed to designed by the architect Jean Bonhomme.[citation needed] Its first wing on rue des Consuls (now called rue du général Sarrail) was completed quickly and the council began meeting there from 1628 onwards.[citation needed] The façade was completed by Nicolas's brother Claude Lespagnol in 1636 and the building as a whole completed with the corner tower in 1823.[citation needed]
Construction resumed in 1863 with the two last wings under the leadership of Narcisse Brunette and his brother Nicolas and they were completed in 1880. It was burned down on 3 March 1917 during the First World War and rebuilt post-war, with work commencing under Bernard Humbold (architecte en chef des monuments historiques) in 1924. The architects Roger-Henri Expert and Paul Bouchette contributed, along with the sculptor Paul Berton, born in Reims;[1] president Gaston Doumergue reopened the building on 10 June 1928.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Reims, un siècle d'évènements, 1900, 2000, Daniel Pellus, Fradet, 2005.