The Boucher-de-Perthes-Manessier Museum in Abbeville (Somme) will not be rebuilt according to the program planned by the previous municipality. On September 21, the new mayor, Angelo Tonolli (various left), announced the abandonment of the project to renovate and extend the establishment, the cost of which was estimated at 30.5 million euros.
According to La Gazette Picardywhich revealed the information, the operation of the future museum would have required around 2 million euros annually, the equivalent of the current gross savings of the municipality. To justify his decision, the mayor also cites the insufficiency of secure funding: according to him, 87% of the financing plan was based on assistance which had not yet been acquired.
The announcement comes as the program, initiated under the previous municipality of Pascal Demarthe (UDI), had already entered its operational phase. Closed to the public since September 2024, the museum underwent asbestos removal work in the fall of 2025, before the demolition, from February 2026, of parts of the buildings which were not to be preserved. The architectural program, entrusted to the Toulouse agency W-Architectures, planned to increase the surface area of the establishment from 2,000 to 3,400 m². A new wing would notably make it possible to present the large formats of the painter Alfred Manessier (1911-1993). The opening was scheduled for the end of 2028.
A construction site interrupted before the award of contracts
The decision was taken as the business consultation concluded. The call for tenders for the construction of the museum, estimated at 15.8 million euros excluding tax, was published in June 2026. The deadline for receiving tenders was postponed to September 21, the day of the municipal announcement. The bid analysis report was expected on October 15. No construction contract had therefore yet been awarded. According to the municipality, interrupting the procedure at this stage would limit compensation to a few tens of thousands of euros, compared to several million if the contracts had been signed. However, this estimate does not include expenses already incurred for studies, project management and preparatory work, the total amount of which has not been communicated.
Abandonment does not concern all of the heritage interventions undertaken on the site. In a press release published on September 23, the town hall confirms that the restoration work on the belfry, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, must be completed on October 20.
It also provides details on the preventive archaeological excavations undertaken in its surroundings. These notably revealed the remains of 29 dwellings dating from the 13th to the 16th century, three ovens associated with bronze work, the traces of an old road and those of a river that dried up in the 13th century. Field operations are expected to continue until early 2027, before a period of study of objects and archaeological data estimated at two years.
What future for the 80,000 works and objects?
The cessation of construction raises the question of the conservation and presentation of the collections. The museum, which benefits from the “Musée de France” designation, preserves nearly 80,000 works and objects, including paintings, sculptures, archaeological collections linked to Jacques Boucher de Perthes, decorative arts and a natural history collection. The old building, rebuilt in 1954, no longer met current conservation, safety and accessibility requirements.
The municipality must now find a suitable solution for the conservation of these collections. According to La Gazette Picardie, the current storage conditions would have given rise to reservations from the DRAC. The cost of new conservation equipment is estimated at around one million euros. However, no location or timetable has been specified for its completion.
The future of Manessier donations constitutes another issue. The painter’s family made two donations to the City, in 2001 and 2019, bringing together around 800 works: paintings, drawings, watercolors and preparatory studies for the stained glass windows of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Abbeville. The extension of the museum was intended in particular to make it possible to present large-format paintings which could not find space in the existing rooms.
Angelo Tonolli has committed to the artist’s two children to open a place dedicated to their father at the end of 2028, in accordance with the initially planned schedule. However, the terms of this new equipment, its surface area and its financing remain to be defined.
In its communication of September 23, the town hall confirms its desire to develop a new museum project, less expensive, based on existing buildings and heritage interventions already carried out. The municipality announces that it will present in the coming months a new cultural strategy favoring in particular the promotion of the architectural heritage of the city center.
