The renovation of Paris’ central, pivotal shopping centre, open space and travel hub is soon to start. It’s an area that’s been mistreated in the name of ‘modernism’ before, and the latest images and film show us a bright new future, but will we really be able to learn from the mistakes of the past? A new exhibition at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal explains in detail everything that’s about to happen, in the hope of erasing still-painful memories of the last botch job…

It was 40 years ago perhaps, but many have yet to forget the fiasco of the last renovation of Les Halles when the metal structures of Baltard’s market were ripped out and destroyed or moved, leaving behind a huge hole, a gaping wound that Paris is eager to avoid seeing again.

Le project suffered numerous technical setbacks. Construction was split into two stages, and making them both meet up wasn’t as simple as planned. A huge new building had to built to house the heating and ventilation units. The garden, originally designed as a large open space, was chopped up and divided by ventilation grates. The travel hub suffered from an unplanned increase in traffic (now 750,000 people a day). The shopping centre, devised for luxury boutiques, never attracted the required brands or clientele. Little by little the smaller shops closed and were combined to make giant H&M stores and a three-floor megastore for the Fnac (selling CDs/DVDs/books/hi-fi, etc.).

Although the centre wanted to be a tourist attraction, anything that wasn’t a shop soon perished. A wax museum of ‘the martyrs of Paris’ and another mini-Madame Tussaud’s quickly closed. The hologram museum was soon outdated and disappeared. An aquatic park using the name of Jacques Cousteau lasted just three years (it didn’t contain any water or fish), leaving space free for CinéCité – a 19-screen cinema that now sells more tickets annually than any other in France – killing the centre’s other cinema, which was eventually turned into more clothes shops. Despite a cosmetic makeover a few years ago, everything has aged very quickly and very badly.

The new CG film showing the new 21st century Les Halles looks too good to be true; a public transport system in glittering silver, with almost no-one on the platforms, lots of smiling people wandering around an practically-empty shopping centre, and so many huge trees, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’re in a forest (despite the project necessitating the chopping down of 343 trees planted during the last renovation)! Even the nearby rue Etienne Marcel, which currently has 0 trees, is shown as a leafy avenue. Even if these are all planted, it will take 30 years for them to achieve the size shown in the film…

If you are as sceptical as we are, perhaps a trip to the Pavillon de l’Arsenal’s new exhibition will reassure you. It purportedly shows the new constructions exactly as they will be built, and should prevent nasty surprises this time round. The official site of the building works is also on line (in French only), with regular updates of progress, illustrated with photos. We’ll see at the end of 2016 if everything has been finished on time, and as planned.

Theexhibition Les Halles – nouveau cœur de Paris (the new heart of Paris) is at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal (here) until 20th March 2011.

Open every day except Monday form 10.30am – 6.30pm (11am-7pm Sundays). Free.