[2] After the war, the council used temporary huts in the garden of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rue Malakoff, while they waited for a new town hall to become available.

[3] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the president of the Senate, Gaston Monnerville, in the presence of the mayor, Yves Jaouen, on 10 May 1958.

[4] It was designed by Maurice Léon Génin in the Brutalist style, built in reinforced concrete and glass and was officially opened by the secretary of state for finance, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in the presence of the mayor, Georges Lombard, on 18 December 1961.

[5][6][7] The design involved a public-facing civic block of 11 bays facing onto Place de la Liberté, with an eight-storey municipal tower behind.

The civic block featured a flight of steps leading up to a recessed plate glass wall with two glass doorways; there were 11 piers supporting the first-floor structure which was projected forward and contained the main civic reception room, the Salon Richelieu (named after Cardinal Richelieu, who established the naval harbour in the town).