It is a place that has long remained secret. Hidden behind a white mesh fence, the aging halls of Courrouze housed the military works of the Euro-Shelter company for a hundred years. This former arsenal hosting secret activities was not used to open to the public. But it will now soon be the case. With the move of Euro-Shelter to La Janais, the city of Rennes was able to buy the five hectares of sheds to install its ephemeral occupation project called Les Halles en commun. For the past few weeks, the structures have been gradually settling down there to occupy this place and keep it alive for three to four years. Time to imagine a future for this thermal sieve whose roofs are either pierced or asbestos. Or both.
Like the Grands Voisins in Paris or the former Saint-Sauveur station in Lille, the Halles de la Courrouze are part of a logic of “transitional urban planning”. Behind this pompous term hides a popular concept. That of occupying buildings while waiting to decide on their future use. “This place must be a space of freedom. Its occupants will be able to invent things there by appropriating it,” sums up Nathalie Appéré. The socialist mayor takes the example of the Hôtel Pasteur, a former university hospital which hosts ephemeral exhibition halls but also a school.
Nineteen structures from the social and solidarity economy will gradually come to settle there with the same ambition: that of opening up to the city and this booming district which still lacks animation. “The objective is really to bring down this fence which has kept this place secret for all these years”, assures Mehdi Teffahi, operations manager at Territoires, a public developer who is piloting the project. Eventually, 190 homes will be built in this five-hectare space where cars will be prohibited and will be required to park outside. Very mineral, the site will also make room for nature.
A soon to be real cultural bistro
In La Courrouze, some structures can already occupy the most functional buildings which will probably not be preserved in the long term. The theater group La Centrifugeuse, for example, took over the old hangar where the Euro-Shelter punching machine was located. A dilapidated space and not heated but perfectly soundproofed. “This place is a base for us who are nomads. This room is ideal for rehearsing,” assures Jérôme, one of the actors in the troupe.
The recycling center The Beautiful Waste will also set up and offer its second-hand items. But the meeting place will be elsewhere. At the entrance to the industrial site, a 200 m² storage building will be occupied by a bistro that dreams of being an alternative canteen. “The arrival of the metro will develop the district, attract the public to the district. Our desire is to become the showcase, the gateway to Les Halles in common,” explains Benjamin, who hopes to open the bar in September 2023.
Associated with Gaspard and Martin, who run the food truck Hey Bro, the member of the association La P’tite Planche, the young man also dreams of installing in the disused halls are “paletdrome”. Winner of the last participatory budget, this project for a sheltered place dedicated to the practice of puck could well settle here, as long as neighbors are rare. So many ideas that will have to be infused for three to four years. Time for the site to take shape. “But not under the sole pencil of town planners”, warns the mayor.