staff and management which resulted in a strike. Since 2007, the direction of the National Baths of Aix-les-Bains conducted a deliberate policy to revitalize attendance and privatise the facility. This privatisation should be effective in the course of the year 2009. Local culture and heritage Aix-les-Bains is an integral part of the Savoy. A tourist resort, the culture is mixed between its food and its communal history. Its heritage is an anthology of influences from many historical invasions. It owes much to its status as a spa town which in the Belle Epoque allowed it to boom and offered it a rich and varied heritage capital. Therefore, it is classified as a City of Art and History. Places and monuments With its rich past and its recent evolution, the commune of Aix-les-Bains has an important and varied heritage. The commune has seventeen monuments listed as monument historique and over 900 listed within the . In addition, it has 56 objects listed in the Inventory of Historic Monuments and thirteen listed within the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage. Heritage was also the subject of studies by the Directorate of Culture of the region of Rhône-Alpes in its series Les dossiers de l'inventaire (Études sur le patrimoine) [The inventory files (heritage studies)]. It has no less than 1163 buildings which have thus retained some attention. Casino Grand-Cercle The Casino Grand-Cercle is located in Aix-les-Bains, and constitutes a major architectural complex in Savoy, in the same way as the casino of Évian. The casino was opened in 1850 by the King Victor-Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy. The ceiling of his living room is covered with a mosaic of 3.5 million small cubes of glass mounted on a golden background. At the time, the building included a ballroom at its centre, flanked by two rooms, one for games, the other for reading and correspondence. Thirty years later, the casino had gained momentum and was expanded with two side pavilions. In 1899, the building acquired a 900-seat theatre, equipped with wooden machinery. Recently four works by the painter were placed in the room of traditional games (boules, roulette, blackjack, etc.). The Casino Grand-Cercle was ranked at 24th in the classification of French casinos, on the basis of its gross product from the games for the fiscal year of 2004–2005. Château of the Rock of the King ] The Château of the Rock of the King