BonjourParis France News Daily June 1

Bank of France converting Hôtel Gaillard branch into new museum BonjourParis France News Daily Dali Wiederhoft Paris, June 1—Bank of France plans to spend about 30 million euros ($42 million) on converting the former Hôtel Gaillard bank branch into a 3,000 square meter (32,000 square feet) museum. Sections will focus on the history of money, banking, finance and economics with interactive museum sections that can be viewed online or by visitors. The museum expects about 100,000 annual individual and school group visitors. Christian Noyer, Bank of France representative, said the bank feels a duty to educate the public about economics and how banks operate. Hiôtel Gaillard is an imposing 19th-century gothic-revival brick building at Place du General Catroux in the 17th arrondissement. The gothic-revival brick building was the private residence of banker and noted Renaissance art collector Emile Gaillard. Architect Jules February designed opulent interiors inspired by Chateau de Bois in the Loire Valley; it took five years to construct the building Gaillard died in 1902 and in 1919 his heirs sold the building to the Bank of France. Architect then Alphonse Defrasse spent three years converting the property to serve as a bank that opened in 1923. In 1999 it was designated a historical monument; it was closed as a bank branch in 2006.