Montreuil: Maison Populaire will move into the former FEI leather workshop

“We have made a lot of progress“, Observes a member of the Restes ensemble association, which brings together residents who live near the former leather goods workshop of the FEI, located on rue Pierre de Montreuil. “We were starting from a real estate project“, remember, “therefore we can only rejoice that it is the People’s House. It is also the result of mobilization citizens. “

For a week, the Montreuil municipality has officially re-installed on this site this cultural association created in 1966 and which today has become one of the largest in the Ile-de-France with 2,600 members and more than 120 cultural and sporting practices offered.

For two years, the development of the EIF was indeed a thorny topic for the municipality of Montreuil. Owned by Epfif (Ile-de-France public land agency), the old factory was illegally occupied until August by members of the Roma community and a collective, Keep fishing. He claimed the squat in the name of a political struggle that combines opposition to gentrification, with fear of a real estate project and citizens’ vigilance over clean-up. At the same time, local residents and associations have mobilized to raise concerns about the site’s future.

© Montreuil Town Hall

Between 18 and 24 months of clean-up

Construction is not expected to start until 2025. But before any rehabilitation, the FEI needs to be cleaned up. The old factory is said to contain 25 tons of chlorinated solvent, including trichlorethylene (TCE). “It will take 18 to 24 months “, Explains Gaylor Le Checker, first deputy mayor (PCF) of Montreuil, who ensures that all precautions will be taken. “This clean-up will be done by venting, a technique that has already proven its worth in the development of Square Virginia Woolf.“

However, this clean-up is still the main concern of local residents. The precedent of the former Wipelec chemical plant in Romainville is still vividly remembered. The Restes Ensemble association asks for “clear specifications” And “appoint an independent expert“. For Samantha Lebrun, coordinator of the Mûrs-à-Pêches federation, “there is reason to be concerned if we judge by what is happening for SNEM (former factory under reclamation located in Bas-Montreuil). We are awaiting more details on the follow-up to the clean-up work that will be carried out.. “

The consultation will begin

Claiming that her words only involve her, Samantha Lebrun deplores, as the Restes ensemble, the total absence of consultations with local associations. “We are talking about a co-built project, it is totally false. Only neighborhood councils were consulted. But not all the inhabitants are represented there. I don’t understand why we were excluded. Now we should be able to renew the dialogue with the town hall.“

The clean-up phase, “it is the moment we give ourselves to work on the programming of the Maison populaire and consultation with all interested parties“, Indicates Gaylor Le Checker for his part. The public presentation of the project is scheduled for November 24th.

“Switching from the Bouygues project (accommodation, parking, shopping center and co-working) to the “largest association” in Montreuil is no small feat! It sounds like a confession, we have the impression that they told each other that they had to find a project on which we would necessarily agree because otherwise we would never have given up on the matter, and they were not wrong“, The Collective Fisheries Guard reacts on its part, condemning the methods of selecting the project and”the attempt to have it validated ex post by a deeply authoritarian assembly of citizens.“

“Renaissance”

In concrete terms, the council house will be able to think about its future in a big way. “The original prefabricated buildings bind us to their dilapidated state. We are cramped there too. For example, there are no building workshops for the art center which also acts as an atrium, the fab lab has been set up there at the shoehorn, sports practice is limited there ”. details Pauline Gacon, director of the association since 2019.

The Maison Populaire, in fact, rejects nearly 1,000 new members every year. “The future site will therefore allow us to increase our reception capacity, but also to project ourselves for the next 50 years.. It is a rebirth. “

10 million euros

“One of the great advantages of this new place is also its historical value.“Three early 20th century buildings will be preserved on the FEI site (the boiler room, the workshops and the dry cleaners and the storage warehouse) as part of the preservation of the city’s industrial heritage.

The Maison Populaire will be set up on the back of the park with a large space for workshops (1,040 m2), the contemporary art center, the fab lab, a concert hall, a dojo and a gym, as well as 250 square meters of common spaces. . If it will add a multipurpose room and third programs. “What are these third party programs? And how will the rest of the site be structured?“Asks Samantha Lebrun who would like the FEI to open up to the associations of Mûrs-à-pêches.

Cost for the municipality of this program: 10 million euros, not counting the additional sources of funding provided, the municipality specifies.

This project is also part of the development of this part of Haut-Montreuil: “Our ambition is to bring a cultural offer close to neighborhoods that are sorely lacking“, Emphasizes Gaylor Le Checker. “The council house will become a structural element near the future Théophile Sueur tram station, the Mûrs-à-pêches swimming pool and the IUT of Montreuil.“

As for the current headquarters of the Maison populaire, the reflection would be oriented towards the creation of residences for artists.