See this sad old train station? Arsenal has been out of service for 75 years, but it could be reborn as a swimming pool if Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet gets her way:
Paris mayoral candidate Kosciusko-Morizet is proposing to revive Arsenal and seven other “ghost” metro stops that are unused and in disrepair. If she’s elected, not only will she be the city’s first female mayor, but she’ll restore the stations to their former bustling glory. The twist? They could become hotspots like a restaurant, nightclub, art gallery, and more:
Writes Parisian blogger Messy Nessy:
While some of the ghost stations were closed down due to a lack of passenger use, others never even saw a single traveler on their platforms after planning was scrapped and access from the streets above was never even built …
Koziuscot-Morizet has also put forward plans for reviving the Little Belt (Petite Ceinture), the inner city railway, abandoned since 1934. See her proposal here.
The former minister for ecology and “rising star of the French Right” had architects Manal Rachdi and Nicolas Laisné draw up the sketches, which could become a reality if Kosciusko-Morizet wins next month. C’est très jolie, non?
