The residents of rue Victor-Hugo, always prohibited from access, live pending the work of consolidating the shoulders above their houses.
Monday, April 14, the signs prohibiting access to part of the Victor-Hugo Street in Amboise were tagged. The gesture is indicative of the deep annoyance of part of the inhabitants and traders, who cannot go home since January 31. For the past two and a half months and the detection of a landslide, part of the southeast ramparts of the Château d’Amboise has threatened to collapse on homes below. Work has been launched in an emergency to stabilize the building, but they will not end before June 28.
“Do you imagine?” They can’t even get clothes ”sympathizes an employee of the Café des Arts, located just on the edge of the safety perimeter. Behind the site grids closing access to the street, the restaurant La Terrasse Dort, frozen for more than two months. The boss Jacky Rapicault tries to keep his activity afloat. His team and took over their activity in another premises, on the Loire quays. “We took over an old restaurant that was closed. It’s temporary, until the end of August. »»
With the compensation negotiated with castle insurance, Jacky Rapicault hopes to hold the shock. But uncertainty remains: “I am still awaiting a final validation of the expert. My overdraft increases, it’s tense. We don’t even know when we can go back to our premises. In April, we were told about access windows. Nothing was done. »»
Insurance asks me for supporting documents … which I cannot recover.
Pascal Pellen, resident of the Victor-Hugo Street.
Pascal Pellen, painter and tenant of a small gallery on rue Victor-Hugo, is also in the dead end. “I can no longer access my workshop, nor sell my fabrics. Insurance asks me for supporting documents that I cannot recover. Fortunately, this is not my main activity. »» Behind the pulled curtains and closed shutters, nearly fifty residents are experiencing prolonged uprooting.
Pascal Duhard, temporarily housed by one of his neighbors, says: “We were housed at the hotel for a few days, time to find a solution. We bought everything: clothes, toiletries. I come out of it, but others are much more affected than me. The castle gave us 200 euros at the start, it’s been 40 euros per month if the closure lasts until June 28. »» The length of administrative procedures with insurance does not only weigh on the inhabitants. The castle itself remains in uncertainty. The amount of the work to secure the rampart amounts to 2.2 million euros.
This is the first time that has been faced with a slip phenomenon.
Marc Métay, director of the Château d’Amboise.
Patrice Poidevin, who lives ten meters from the condemned area, does not take off. “The castle knew it was going to happen. There were cracks and measuring instruments had been placed. »» In 2021, a first alert had been given. Noting movements in the structure of the ramparts, a legal expert had been commissioned and he had concluded “At a serious but not imminent risk”, According to the town hall. “It seems that the exceptional rainfall of this fall has amplified the risk of ruin, engorging the embankment”, we explain.
The rainfall is also pointed out by the castle, property of the Saint-Louis foundation. According to Marc Métay, site director, the sagging of the ramparts remains “A natural, unpredictable phenomenon linked to exceptional rainfall”. “It is unfortunately a risk known in the region He adds.
No imminent risk according to the castle
The weaknesses of the rampart are known. For years, its swelling and retraction, its “vibrations”, have been measured and monitored. “But this is the first time that we have faced a phenomenon of slip”assures the director of the castle. In January, the base of the rampart stolen, not to the point of collapsing but enough to worry. According to the direction of the castle, work at the rampart was well planned before seeing the disorders of this winter. But no date had been arrested. “There was no imminent risk”specifies Samuel Buchwalder, in charge of the communication of the castle.
The situation irritates the inhabitants all the more since the information arrives at them in the dropper. In the Victor-Hugo district, we plague against this castle which has “Immediately communicated to announce that it remains open to visitors” Without having a word for Amboisiens. “” Information happens to us mainly through newspapers ”, deplores Patrice Poidevin.
Taken between the lower town and its royal castle, the town hall of Amboise tries to play the mediators. Four meetings, with the representatives of the castle and the inhabitants, were organized. “A one -stop shop has been set up to accompany the inhabitants”, explains Stéphane Delbarre, director of cabinet of the mayor. The City takes care of temporary recovery, as in the VVF holiday village, while requesting the emergency rehousing assistance fund.
Recoards supported by the town hall
The town hall, on the other hand, imputes the maintenance of the ramparts and the management of the risk of collapses to the owner of the castle. “” It is the Saint-Louis foundation, owner of the castle, which ensures the follow-up of the rampart ”, specifies Stéphane Delbarre.
If the responsibility of the castle seems clear for the municipality, the subject remains sensitive for part of the inhabitants, well aware of the importance of the monument and its 400,000 annual visitors. However, some residents refuse to remain passive and plan to create a collective. They wish to shed light on the causes of the incident, believing that the situation could have been avoided. “It is not in my nature to go see a lawyer, but if the insurances do not pay, it will be necessary to defend oneself”says a resident.