The (, ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

'') is a municipal building in

Sevran Sevran () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History The current Hôtel d ...

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobi ...

, in the northeastern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, standing on Avenue du Général Leclerc.

History

After the French Revolution, meetings of the town council were initially held in the house of the mayor at the time. In the late 19th century, the council decided to establish a dedicated town hall. The building they selected was a large house on Rue Roger-Le-Maner known as "Le Fayet". It was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in brick with a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

finish and was completed in the 18th century. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing onto Rue Roger-Le-Maner, with the last two bays at each end slightly projected forward as

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s. The First Consul of the French Republic,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, visited the house during a review of the construction of the Ourcq Canal on 27 February 1803. In 1881, it was acquired by the Swedish chemist,

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...

, who used it as a laboratory. The property was managed by his assistant, Georges Fehrenbach, and the experiments related to the development of the explosive,

ballistite Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century. Military adoption Alfred Nobel patented Ballistite in 1887 while li ...

. The French Army showed no interest in the product and the rights were sold to the Italian Government in 1889. Nobel moved out later that year and the town council acquired the building in around 1892. During the Paris insurrection of 19 August 1944, part the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a group of residents seized the town hall on 27 August 1944. German troops temporarily regained control and their presence was not eliminated until 29 August 1944. Following significant population growth, the town council commissioned an annex to the town hall. The site selected for the annex was to the southwest of the main building. It was a prefabricated building, built in plasterboard and completed around 1975. With the consent of the council, the building was used as a canvas by local graffiti artists, allowing them to demonstrate their artistic skills, in November 2011. By that time, the annexe was considered too small and the council decided it should be demolished. The property the council selected for the new town hall was the main building at Fief de la Fossée, a feudal estate owned by the local seigneur since the 16th century. It was owned by the Therresse family 1674 to 1786 and, after being badly damaged in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870, it was held by the Hamelin family and their heirs from 1900 to 1930. It then served as a hospital for former police officers, operated by the

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul (; abbreviated DC), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, is a society of apostolic life for women within the Catholic Church. ...

from 1930 to 1974. The town council acquired the estate in 1974 and converted the main building into a music conservatory. The main building was badly damaged in the

2005 French riots The 2005 French riots was a three-week long period of civil disturbances that took place in Paris#Suburbs, the suburbs of Paris and Urban area (France), other French cities in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attac ...

, but was fully restored for municipal use in 2015. The design involved a main frontage of nine bays with its south end facing onto Avenue du Général Leclerc. A porch was erected in front of the second bay on the left.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 2015 City and town halls in France 2015 establishments in France