7.5 million euros allocated to the restoration of 18 emblematic sites

Since its first edition in 2018, the Heritage Mission has supported the restoration of more than 950 sites, of which nearly 65% ​​have already been renovated.

A total of 7.5 million euros will be awarded to the 18 emblematic sites in mainland France and overseas selected this year for the seventh edition of the Heritage Lottery, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days this weekend, the Heritage Foundation announced on Friday, September 20, 2024. “This year, under the Heritage Mission, the Heritage Foundation will award grants of between 200,000 and 500,000 euros” at each of the sites during public ceremonies, the foundation said in a statement.

The new “Mission patrimoine” game offer from Française des jeux (FDJ), including a 15-euro scratch card, on sale since September 2, and seven dedicated Loto draws from September 7 to 21, is already helping to finance these 18 emblematic regional projects, the foundation told AFP. The grants for the 100 recently unveiled departmental projects will be announced at the end of the year after the sale of these games.

For this seventh edition, the Mission for the Safeguarding of Endangered Heritage, led by host Stéphane Bern, has chosen to highlight “sports heritage”, in homage to the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in France this summer. The selected sites include the Alexandre Braud swimming pool in Vallons-de-l’Erdre (Loire-Atlantique), the stables of the Saint-Lô national stud farm (Manche) and the grandstand of the Marville Sports Park in La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis).

Other sites selected include the La Grande Vapeur factory in Oyonnax (Ain), the former Pouldu semaphore in Guidel (Morbihan), the Château de l’Herm in Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac (Dordogne), the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church in Trois-Rivières in Guadeloupe, as well as the former house of the penitentiary commander in La Foa in New Caledonia.

Since the first edition in 2018, the Heritage Mission has helped more than 950 sites with their restoration work, including more than 125 emblematic regional heritage projects and more than 835 departmental sites (one site per metropolitan department and overseas community).

“Today, more than 65% of them have already been saved: 350 have been completed and 280 projects are in progress”according to the foundation. The 2023 edition of the Loto had collected more than 28 million euros. Since its launch, it has brought in more than 155 million euros.