Second life for 'ghost' metro stops?

A candidate in Paris' mayoral race is proposing to transform the city's disused metro stations into vibrant communal spaces.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet of the UMP party has commissioned a series illustrations displaying how one of the city's so-called ghost metro stations might be transformed.

The arresting images include a swimming pool, theater, restaurant and sculpture area (pictured) in the Arsenal metro stop which has lain idle since 1939.

A proper underground scene? An artists impression of a nightclub in the Arsenal metro station in Paris.

The mock-ups were produced by Parisian firms Oxo architectes and Laisné Architecte. If elected, Kosciusko-Morizet says she will ask Parisians for their own ideas on how to spruce up the metro stations.

There are 16 so-called ghost stations beneath the streets of Paris. Some can be found in the heart of the city, such as those at Champ de Mars and Croix Rouge.

The stylish city-scene above ground at the Arsenal station, Paris.

• A mayoral candidate in Paris has proposed transforming the city's disused metro stations


• A series of images display subterranean night clubs, swimming pools and restaurants


• There are a total of 16 disused stations beneath the streets of Paris

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(CNN) -- What would be the most sensible way for a city to make use of its old and disused metro stations?

Maybe they could be given a lick of paint and put back into service. Or how about rebranding them to drag in tourists with ghoulish yarns of haunted catacombs?

In the French capital of Paris, however, one mayoral candidate has raised the possibility of sprucing up a station that has lain idle since 1939 with elaborate swimming pools, nightclubs and art installations.

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Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the center-right candidate of the UMP party, has commissioned a series of arresting illustrations displaying how Arsenal, one of the city's so-called ghost metro stops, could be used.

If she becomes mayor, Kosciusko-Morizet has said she will ask Parisians for their own ideas on how to transform the vacant the subterranean spaces.

Alongside the aquatic and artistic options, which have been created by the Paris-based firms Oxo architectes and Laisné Architecte, the mock-ups also include images of the station being converted into a theater and a restaurant.

In total, there are 16 disused metro stations beneath the streets of Paris with most closed between the 1930s and 1970s. A small number were also built but have never been used.

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Despite the attention garnered by the images in the local press so far, however, Kosciusko-Morizet still lies far behind the favorite and frontrunner in the mayoral race, Socialist Anne Hidalgo.

This could mean that taking a dip at the Arsenal metro swimming pool or snaffling a bite to eat in its subterranean restaurant may be a while in coming.

That doesn't make the pictures any less intriguing or pretty though.