How did an iron - mining town in northern France become an art haven ? One year since Louvre opened sister museum in Lens , attracts 750,000 visitors . `` We became a ghost town , '' said regional president Daniel Percheron , of a city that had an unemployment rate three times the national average . The € 150 m museum will reinvigorate depressed city with 24 % investment . Gleaming glass building designed by Japanese architectural firm Sanaa .
How did an iron - mining town in northern France become an art haven ? One year since Louvre opened sister museum in Lens , attracts 750,000 visitors . The € 150 m museum will reinvigorate depressed city with 24 % investment . Gleaming glass building designed by Japanese architectural firm Sanaa .