French mayor calls for Notre Dame-style rebuild after historic town hall set on fire by rioters

French mayor calls for Notre Dame-style rebuild after historic town hall set on fire by rioters Limoges’ mayor has threatened to resign unless central authorities fund the full restoration of the 19th-century landmark - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in The mayor of Limoges has threatened to resign along with his entire city council unless the French government commits to funding the full restoration of his city's fire-ravaged town hall. Mayor Guillaume Guérin said on Sunday that the government had 24 hours to present a plan to rebuild the 143-year-old town hall, calling for state assistance similar to the rebuilding efforts following the 2019 Notre-Dame cathedral fire. The neo-Renaissance building – which survived both world wars – was severely damaged after rioters set it ablaze over the weekend, causing its roof and clock tower to collapse. “I want us to have the same capacity to rebuild as was given to Notre-Dame de Paris,” Mr Guérin told local media outlet Ici Limoges. “I want to see a rain of millions on the city.” The incident occurred during some of the worst civil unrest France has witnessed in years, as nationwide protests over rising living costs, teacher shortages and deteriorating high schools spread across major cities. Limoges’ mayor accused the government of abandoning the city and condemning the “insufficient” law enforcement response. “The problem is that by 3.30pm the police had run out of ammunition. Faced with them, the Republican police retreated,” Guérin said. “If we’d had the means to contain them on the boulevard, they would never have made it this far. The government has abandoned us.” French intelligence services severely misjudged the scale of the mobilisation, projecting that only 190,000 demonstrators would turn out nationwide. An estimated 550,000 people attended across the country. Video footage broadcast across French media captured the moment the clock tower collapsed into the inferno, drawing widespread comparisons to the loss of Notre-Dame’s spire seven years ago. “It felt like I was watching the footage of Notre-Dame on TV all over again, but this time it was right next to my home,” one local resident told French newspaper Le Figaro. “I’ve known this town hall my whole life. It’s terrible that things have come to this over these demands.” The unrest caused widespread destruction in multiple urban centres. In Marseille, rioters targeted a police station and municipal offices, leading mayor Benoît Payan to accuse the Interior Ministry of under-policing France's second-largest city. In Lille, an Apple store was looted, while public buildings in Lyon, Bordeaux, and Toulouse were broken into and damaged. In Paris, masked agitators breached security barricades, ransacked commercial districts along the Champs-Élysées, and set fire to street infrastructure. The UNSA police union posted a video on X showing crowds attacking police vans with clubs and bricks in multiple locations, warning the government that security forces are at breaking point. "Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes," the union said. “Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum.” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that more than 150 police officers were injured in Saturday's protests alone, but did not confirm the total number of injured demonstrators. Police tactics have drawn intense scrutiny following reports of demonstrator casualties, including a teenager who lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade. The national police watchdog is currently investigating at least two dozen formal allegations of police violence. Lecornu blamed the violence on "ultra-left" groups and criminals, accusing them of using the unrest as a "warm-up" ahead of next year's presidential election and insisting the government would not be intimidated. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the rioting, declaring on X that the state would stand united against "sowers of chaos," while committing emergency state aid and accelerated insurance support to rebuild the damaged civic infrastructure in Limoges. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments