Paul Manchon day nursery (demolished in the early 2000s). In July 2011 Le Select closed for the beginning of construction of the new multiplex. Restarting of shows was planned for November of that year at the Firmin-Gémier Theatre but, on 29 September, the mayor announced to council that the auditorium was contaminated with asbestos and could not accommodate any film screenings, performances, or performing arts. Antony found itself without any major cultural venues until the construction of the new theatre and cinema was completed in 2013. On 10 June 2012 a short-lived cinema opened in the Pajeaud quarter between the COSOM gymnasium and the Iris pool near Heller Park. In an innovative concept, this temporary cinema of 205 seats will be dismantled when the town centre theatre opens. The current public library, built in 1990, has a large Braille workshop, one of the few in France to offer a large selection of books free of charge to the blind. In 1995 the city was also equipped with a new bookmobile which can carry 2,500 books. The bookmobile serves eleven stops in all quarters of Antony. Antony has a conservatory (dependent on the Agglomeration Community of Hauts-de-Bièvre), approved by the Darius Milhaud State Conservatory, that every year has more than 1,250 students supervised by a teaching faculty of more than 70 teachers. Its main mission is to discover, appreciate, and learn music, dance, and drama as part of courses of study in different departments. The conservatory was opened on 7 December 1996. Tributes were paid to Darius Milhaud, the "godfather" of the temple of music as well as Paul Arma, a famous composer who lived in Antony and who the auditorium is named after. In 1967 Georges Suant, a theatre with 500 seats, and the Firmin-Gémier theatre, were installed in the hall built in 1930 on the Place du Marché after making some improvements including the provision of seats in the gods. The first director was Jacques Sarthou, then the director of the Théâtre de l'Île-de-France. Often referred to as the spiritual son of Firmin Gémier, given his similar experience in a traveling theatre, he hoped that this new theatre would take his name. Several very creative directors were then appointed to the theatre: Jean Rougerie appointed in 1972, Pierrette Garreau and Marc Ansel in 1979, Gérard Savoisien in 1984, René Chéneaux in 1991, François Kergourlay in 1995, and Marc Jeancourt