Bataclan Concert Hall Could Re-Open by End of 2016

Bataclan concert hall, where 90 people were killed during the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, may reopen by the end of next year, according to two of its owners.

Owners Olivier Poubelle and Jules Frutos told French newspaper Le Monde that they want the historic venue to live again instead of being turned into a mausoleum or pilgrimage site. “We are dead for the moment. But we need life,” Frutos said, according to a AFP translation. “It’s vital that the doors reopen.”

The pair spoke of the personal devastation they felt after the attacks. “Two of our colleagues are dead. As are music professionals that we knew well. Others are seriously injured. I was not in the theatre and I think about that all the time,” Poubelle said.

Poubelle, who rushed to the venue when he first heard of the attack on the Eagles of Death Metal gig, also described how three bar staff hiding in a storeroom kept the door closed with the tips of their fingers.

The American band has said it wants to be the first to play the concert hall when it reopens its doors.

[AFP]