« End of season for Spring “, headlined “Sud Ouest” on March 29, 1989. On May 20, the store in Place Gambetta, heir to the Haberdashery shop Le Magasin vert, created in 1854 by a certain Paul Chaumette and became a “department store” in 1882 before passing…
« End of season for Spring “, headlined “Sud Ouest” on March 29, 1989. On May 20, the store in Place Gambetta, heir to the Haberdashery shop Le Magasin vert, created in 1854 by a certain Paul Chaumette and became a “department store” in 1882 before passing under the control of the famous “Printemps” of Paris in 1934, puts the key under the door.
The Virgin group has acquired to open a megastore specializing in books and records, but Thursday, July 13, in the early morning, a fire ravaged in two hours the listed building, in full work.
At 6:30 a.m., the five-storey building, with an area of 5,000 square meters, is nothing more than a gigantic fire when the first aid arrives on the scene. “South West”, July 14.
Spectacular, the fire which vomits flames more than 10 meters high, can be seen from Mérignac, testifies in the newspaper Lucien Delière, a firefighter from Benauge, who immediately came to lend a hand to his colleagues.
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The fire did not spread
July 14, 1989.
South West Archives
Propane bottles left in the construction site by the workers explode. The Ornano barracks decides to send as many reinforcements as possible. Less than half an hour later, four large ladders and the basket are installed in the streets around the block of buildings and 67 firefighters are fighting the disaster. Around 8:30 a.m., the fire was brought under control. Five firefighters were injured and the building was almost destroyed, but the worst was avoided: the fire did not spread.
In the Bordeaux conurbation, we are in shock. Many rumors immediately circulated about the causes of the disaster with suspicious origins. An investigation is opened. The fire will delay the opening of the Virgin by a year, which will in turn close in 2013.
Today, while the renovation of Place Gambetta was completed in February 2021, the former “Printemps” building bought by promoter Michel Ohayon is still biding its time.
