At the beginning of the year 1881, the committee on finances of the
common council of Paris received a petition from the central committee
of the syndical chambers asking for the establishment of an official
exchange for merchandise and commercial transactions for the especial
use of Parisian commerce. To this petition was added a project of
organization which proposed the appropriation of the grain market,
with a clearing of the approaches. The Paris chamber of commerce had
likewise been for a long time contemplating the establishment of a
merchandise exchange, and was studying the practical means of
organizing it.
Called upon to decide, the common council, at its session of May 28,
1881, decreed that an official merchandise exchange for the commerce
of Paris should be organized, and that the grain market, or any other
place considered favorable by the administration, should be
appropriated.
Desirous of aiding in carrying out this decree, the chamber of
commerce offered its services to the city. It proposed to take upon
itself the responsibility of organizing and managing the exchange, and
of borrowing the money necessary for converting the grain market into
a merchandise exchange, and for clearing the approaches and opening
Louvre Street.
The study of this project soon became connected, by reason of the
proximity of the places, with the one having for its object the
enlarging of the central markets and the construction of two pavilions
to complete them. It was recognized that it would be of interest to
make the appropriation necessary for the enlarging of the markets and
to unite the two operations. After many vicissitudes, this project
received the approval of the common council.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--EXTERNAL VIEW OF THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGE OF
PARIS.]
The contract for the work was given on the 2d of March, 1886, to Mr.
Blondel, the well known architect.
Let us now see how the contract has been followed out. The grain
market was built in 1767, upon the site of the hotel of Soissons. Of
this, nothing was preserved but the astronomical tower of Catherine de
Medicis, which still remains. The central part of the market left free
was soon covered with a wooden framework, which was destroyed by fire
in 1802. This was then replaced by the architect Brunet with an iron
cupola covered with sheet copper. This market was designed for the
reception of the grain and flour necessary to supply the city, but was
soon supplanted by public granaries, and then by general stores. It
afterward became a depot in which grain and flour brokers received
merchandise from shippers in order to effect a sale of it. The
abolition of the _factorat_ gave it its last blow.
Let us examine the transformations made by Mr. Blondel in the old
structure. He began by excavating under the entire extent of the
market a basement 13 ft. in depth. The old foundations of the circular
walls, which are more than 6 ft. thick, and which are extremely solid,
extend to a depth of about 2½ ft. beneath the surface. The ceiling of
the basement, in the annular part between the walls, is formed of
large T iron girders, resting upon the circular walls. These support
transverse girders, which, in turn, support the floor irons.
The flooring of the hall is formed of ordinary floor irons, assembled
upon large girders, which are supported here and there by cast iron
columns. Under this flooring there is a second one, leaving a free
space of about ten inches, in which will be placed the tubes serving
for ventilation. To these pipes will be joined vertical ones
debouching in the flooring of the hall.
The old dome did not have apertures enough, and the skylight even was
not transparent, and so the lighting of the hall was very defective.
The mode of covering the dome was therefore completely modified. The
copper was removed, and upon the old framework was laid a wooden
framework, to which will be nailed laths designed to receive a slate
roof. The slate will not extend to the summit of the dome, but will
leave above it a spherical cap, which will be glazed, and through
which the light will enter the hall in abundance.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--INTERNAL VIEW OF THE EXCHANGE.]
In the basement will be installed the ventilating and heating
apparatus. Another part of the basement will be occupied by the dynamo
machines that are to furnish the electric light. Another part will
receive the bake ovens that belong to the laboratory of the committee
on grain and flour. The rest of the basement will be rented. The
central part will probably be converted into a cold room for the
preservation of early fruit and vegetables.
On the ground floor, we find, in the first place, the rooms that the
contractor is to furnish gratuitously for post office, telegraph, and
telephones, and to licensed brokers, and especially a hall of superb
dimensions designed for the public sale of raw materials by the
brokers.
What remains of the ground floor will be devoted to offices looking at
once upon the hall and Viarones Street. The entresol and the two
stories will be connected by several staircases. The various stories
will also be reached through elevators. A circular balcony will extend
around the hall at the level of each of the two upper stories. These
will be occupied by offices smaller than those on the ground floor,
which will, some of them, get their light from the hall, and others
from the street.
A part of the second story will be reserved for the service of the
committees on grain and flour, who, as experts, are called upon to
determine to what type each specimen is to be referred.
From the exchange, let us pass to the annexes. The one on the right is
destined to become a large hotel for the accommodation of provincial
and foreign merchants. The one to the left will be a tenement house,
with shops and apartments. Along each of these annexes, on Viarones
Street, will extend a covered colonnade.--_Abstract from Le Genie
Civil._
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