Descriptif
A common house and market halls existed in Templeuve-en-Pévèle until the Revolution of 1789, maintained by the Abbey of Anchin, lord of the place. Part of it was made of wood. In poor condition, they were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century and the site sold to meet municipal expenses around 1815. The municipal council meetings were then held in the former vicar's house, 1 rue Neuve.
Histoiry
Then, a town hall was built in 1827 on the plans of Achille Dewarlez, architect from Lille. It is a neo-classical building, located in the same location as the previous ones. The shell still exists at 1 rue de Roubaix, but was deprived of its architectural ornaments around 1970.
On May 13, 1882, the municipality wanted a new and larger building to be built. March 26, 1893, “Considering the proposal of Mr. Louis Bonnier, architect DPLG, living in Paris, who, wanting to be of service to his native village, offered to take charge free of charge of all that may concern his profession as regards the construction of the new town hall ”. The Council accepts this initiative with gratitude.
The building was completed in 1894 and final acceptance will take place in 1898. On July 8, 1894, the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts grants a bust of the Republic for the new town hall. The inauguration of the new town hall is postponed sine die. It will never happen.
On December 23, 1915, the municipal services had to leave the town hall requisitioned by the German authorities to make it a second lazaretto.
The building, classified as a historic monument in 2002, was restored and refurbished between 2003 and 2007. It no longer fulfills the role of town hall since 2003. Municipal services are now located at Château Baratte. The building retains the name of 'town hall center' and houses offices on the ground floor as well as a meeting and exhibition room upstairs.
A little architecture
This all-brick building is remarkable in more ways than one. Louis Bonnier managed to impose the construction and give it its place alongside the imposing mass of the nearby church. At the end of the 19th century, it was daring not to use the eclectic style fashionable since the Second Empire. The architect dares to design asymmetrical facades, place a belfry on the corner, vary the volumes and reduce the decor to the essential parts, including the superb cornice in Lombard strips, punctuated by anchor bars in the shape of a bat, reminder discreet, if not humorous, of the witches of Templeuve-en-Pévèle.
The large slate roof boldly resumes the shape of the church apses, but is higher. The interior, including the staircase, the great hall and its fireplace, demonstrates the same mastery, which combines the tradition of functional architecture and innovations that herald Art Nouveau. This great architect who worked a lot in Paris deserves the remark of Siegfried Giedron: 'the pioneering work accomplished without noise by Bonnier'. This is his 10th project out of the 52 main ones attributed to him.