Paris Olympics: nearly 20% of second-hand booksellers’ boxes “in poor condition”

Around a hundred second-hand booksellers' boxes, out of some 600 which must be moved before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, are "in poor condition" and will have to be redone, according to a document from the town hall, faced with opposition from these booksellers. In a preliminary draft call for tenders drawn up on October 23, sent to AFP and authenticated on Tuesday by the town hall, the latter estimates that “around a hundred boxes have been identified as being in poor condition and will have to be 'object of a renovation'.

The second-hand booksellers, who notably highlight the fragility of these boxes in their refusal to free the quays of the Seine, believe that many of their colleagues will not be able to survive the weeks of inactivity imposed by the dismantling, restoration and reassembly of their tool. work. The “preparatory document” from the town hall mentions a withdrawal of “nightclubs, to limit the inconvenience caused, between July 13 and 18”, i.e. more than a week before the opening ceremony on the Seine on July 26 .

Also read “Moving our boxes for the Olympics is as absurd as it is risky”: the rant of a Parisian second-hand bookseller

The replacement of the boxes must be done “from August 3” and within “five days”, like the dismantling, in order “to minimize the operating loss as much as possible”, requests the town hall. A calendar that Jérôme Callais, president of the Cultural Association of Booksellers of Paris, contacted by AFP, considers “unrealistic”. “We will still be during the Games” which end on August 11, he emphasizes, fearing a “big month of inactivity, at least, without compensation”.

The call for tenders to find a service provider capable of "depositing", "protecting", "transporting", "store" and "reposing" the boxes, according to the specifications, will be launched after a test planned "soon", indicates the town hall to AFP. Jérôme Callais fears that this test will be carried out “in the best conditions, as quickly as possible, having ruled out the problems” in order to obtain the “blessing of the prefect”.

In a letter sent on July 25 to second-hand booksellers, the police headquarters indicated that nearly 600 of the 900 “green wagon” boxes attached to the parapet, containing second-hand books and other curiosities, would have to be dismantled and temporarily moved for reasons of security. These boxes are “places where we can hide weapons, or even worse, explosives”, argued prefect Laurent Nunez at the last Paris Council.