Responding to a real need for a research and creation tool, this mutation began with the installation in part of the site of an artists’ collective – La Station, an association defending contemporary art through production and exhibition.

At the same time, the city has set up a mission of reflection entitled Chantier Sang Neuf, in order to extend this process of change to the entire site and to all artistic expressions; this reflection has been concretised by the creation of the Grande Halle (a 2000 m2 space), Frigo 16, and the Round Table; all these spaces can accommodate various programs around current music, exhibitions, conferences/debates. This experimental form of the project was carried out until 2015 through various productions, residencies and temporary events.

Today, after significant work to transform its premises, the 109 is beginning a new life allowing the reception of other major players in the cultural life of Nice. The project is entering a second phase of consolidation of its objectives through the installation of 29 municipal workshops for visual artists; the Forum of Urban Planning and Architecture; Entre-Pont, a federation of some forty associations of live shows; the Antipodes dance company; BOTOX(S), the contemporary art network Alpes & Riviera; the SACA, the Architects’ Union of the French Riviera.

With the energy produced by its multiple occurrences, the 109 tends to reinforce its role as an authentic breeding ground for creation.

In its new configuration, the 109 is positioned as an essential interface for contemporary creation in the local, national and international cultural landscape by coordinating the actions carried out by the protagonists of the site, but above all by a rich, diverse and ambitious programme within the site, focused on different types of cultural, artistic and societal issues of our time.