Court Halts Construction of Controversial Muslim Center in Paris Suburb

The court notably mentions the planned demolition of protected buildings as well as constructions that do not enhance the existing buildings, stating a rupture and an attack on the architectural characteristics by largely obscuring them, reports Actu Hauts-de-Seine.

For Thierry Lefevre, first deputy mayor, the decision of the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise should not raise any concerns at all. "It must be seen that these are motivations of an aesthetic and environmental integration nature. We have appealed and we hope that this position can be reviewed," he said. Also, he hinted that work has already been undertaken with the architect and the Muslim socio-cultural association of the city to "rework the aesthetics of the building as well as a downward resizing of the project."

The reception capacity is the other problem that is annoying. In 2012, a temporary prayer room had been established on the same avenue, at number 103. With a limited capacity of 300 people, two services are celebrated on Fridays by the imam. While the capacity of the future planned hall is 950 people in order to find a solution to this problem, the investigating commissioner, for his part, orders a reduction to 500 people.

The move that had been announced at the end of 2017 was to take place by early 2020. But the postponement of the deadline is not synonymous with the non-completion of the project, reassures Thierry Lefevre. Built on a plot of land, the current hall will be sold with a view to the arrival of metro line 15 at the Issy RER station, right in front, which could also accommodate line 12, specifies the same source.