Entry into 2017
The Marseille firefighters battalion was created by decree-law of July 29, 1939, following the fire of New Galleries. This unit of the French Navy has the role of carrying out the typical missions of firefighters, like any other French fire and rescue service. However, the Battalion, as it is colloquially called, is distinguished from other firefighting units by the fact that it is a military firefighter unit, which is also the case of the Paris fire brigade, units training and intervention for civil security, air firefighters and marine firefighters from naval bases and naval aviation bases.
In the years 1984/1985, the Mirabeau Barracks (MRB) replaced the La Madrague station (LMG). Member of the 5th company, she was in charge of the sector of autonomous port, from the north east of the city and islands of Friuli. It will in turn be replaced by the Saumaty station in 2003, marking the definitive abandonment of the premises in June 2004.
A few days before the departure of the last firefighters, the artists of the Kazimir collective wrote on May 25, 2004 to the president of the general council, Jean-Noël Guérini, to ask him to be able to use the Mirabeau barracks. Around fifteen theater and musical companies, grouped within Kazimir, wish to transform the gymnasium and the old garages into a rehearsal room and storage places for equipment. The collective, “K17”, which brings together numerous associations relating to street arts, proposed in 2005 to buy the entire premises for 1,6 million euros from the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône in order to accommodate 200 people and offer artistic workshops, production and rehearsal rooms and hangars for sets and costumes.
But the department accepted the offer from the Parisian real estate developer Les Nouveaux Constructeurs, which offered more than 5 million euros to build mid-range housing there. But the sales agreement was ultimately not signed as agreed in Spring 2006.
On December 31, 2006, the barracks welcomed “the most attended event of the year” according to its organizers (K17 & Kazimir)…a party from 22 p.m. to 12 p.m. with the presence of numerous DJs (Spark, Ted, Pat, Tee, Yodha, Greg Logan, etc.). In 2008 the “K17” collective made a new purchase proposal, increasing from 1,6 to 2,1 million euros. The General Council, which had received “ several offers ", had to open the envelopes and compare them at the end of July 2008, to choose based on " the nature of the project, financial guarantees and price ". In 2010 the property was still advertised as for sale and was finally sold by the General Council. A “Littoral du Port” garage sale was held there for around ten years every Saturday and Sunday in the large central courtyard from 6 a.m. with 75 exhibitors.
But in 2020 all this must have been a thing of the past (slowed down by the Covid crisis), in fact the Village Mirabeau real estate project took place within a park of more than 2 hectares with a set of 56 apartments ranging from 2 to 3 pieces. The project announces on-site shops with a bakery and a butcher, a medical center and a pharmacy, a crèche with 62 places. In the description, the starred chef Thierry Marx had chosen to set up his “Cuisine mode d'emploi” school within the Village Mirabeau. In 2024, the "Village Mirabeau" sign has taken its place on the facade, buildings have been renovated, a medical center has taken place, a hairdresser, but we still seem very far from the initial project...to be continued.
