A huge gastronomic center in Lyon, announced as a “new mecca” of the culture of the French metropolis, has closed its doors for less than nine months after its official launch.
Despite the rest of the blocking measures, control of the International City of Gastronomy blamed uncertainty about the economy and tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic for its closure. But it has also been criticized for its too high price.
However, since this week’s previous announcement, there has been a lot of interest in site remodeling. The metropolitan authority of Lyon says that a team is already running in a new assignment with a view to reopening the center to the public.
“This is an opportunity to reclaim ownership of this landmark,” said the new president of the Metropolitan Area of Lyon, Bruno Bernard of the French Green Party, who took several primary cities in the local elections in June.
He promised to technify all long-term stakeholders for the site, which “can only be built with the city’s population.”
As Euronews reported last year, the 4,000-square-meter centre was designed to be a cultural area for culinary-themed exhibitions. Lyon is known as the gastronomic capital of France and has been selected from 4 French cities to expand the place.
In 2010, the “Gastronomic Food of the French” was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
The allocation of 20 million euros evolved from what was once the Grand Hotel-Dieu in Lyon, once a hospital for the deficient along the banks of the Rhone.
But despite his ambition to make the center “like everyone else” with a combination of dining experience, fitness data and interactive displays, there is little time to tame a clientele between locals and tourists before the COVID-19 epidemic forced it to close.
The International City has also been criticized for its top down payment of 12 euros, plus an additional 12 euros for trying dishes with amounts described in Lyon news as “lowercase”.
“In the face of economic and tourist uncertainty, and despite our efforts to save it, we have taken the decision not to reopen the city and prevent its exploitation,” said a Spanish corporate operating Magma Culture.
Share this article