French Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak announced on Friday the suspension of the demolition of the historic site of Marie Curie’s laboratory in central Paris, where plans are to build a center for biological chemistry to treat cancer, AFP reported. On Monday, bulldozers were to demolish the Pavillon des Sources, one of the three buildings of the Marie Curie laboratory in Paris, The Guardian reports. guardian.

In a message posted on social media, Rima Abdul Malak announced the suspension of demolition work on the Pavillon des Sources, one of the three buildings of the Marie Curie Institute (formerly the Radium Institute) in the Latin Quarter, founded by Marie Curie, a two-time Nobel laureate and the first woman who received this prestigious title.

“This morning (Friday) I spoke with the president of the Institut Curie, Thierry Philippe. We agreed to suspend the demolition of the Pavillon des Sources to allow time for study, with stakeholders and my colleague @sretailleau (Silvie Retaileau, Minister of Education). Superior and Research), any possible alternative,” writes the minister, who at the last moment saves the building, which has been the subject of controversy for months.

The Institut Curie wants to build a five-story building, or about 2,000 m2, on these areas for “Europe’s first biological chemical center for the treatment of cancer.”

Around the project there was a dispute between defenders of science and heritage, the latter believed that the destruction of a small historical building would be a serious attack on the memory of Marie Curie.

The issue became political in mid-October, when the leader of the opposition LR (Les Républicains) of the Paris council, Rashida Dati, asked the culture minister to register the site as a historical monument.

Demolition of the building was inevitable after a positive report by French architects, despite warnings from the City Hall’s advisory body, which condemned the “massive and disproportionate nature” of the project.