• The metropolis of Rennes has just announced the purchase from the State of the former Jacques-Cartier prison for 550,000 euros.

  • Empty since 2010 and the transfer of detainees to Rennes-Vezin, the remand center will be partly preserved and transformed into a cultural place.

  • The Champs de Justice association still hopes to create a large justice museum there, retracing in particular the major trials.

Since 2010 and the delicate transfer of detainees to the new Rennes-Vezin remand center, the aging Jacques-Cartier prison had not seen many people.

Used on rare occasions for filming, notably

La Taularde

, produced by Julie Gayet in which Sophie Marceau played, the prison has often been deserted. In recent years, it has occasionally served as a training camp for the GIGN or ERIS teams, the teams responsible for intervening in conflicts in prison. But it was almost impossible to welcome other audiences there, as the security left so much to be desired. Since Monday and the formalization of the sale of land and buildings in Rennes Métropole, the district shudders again at the idea of ​​seeing the walled enclosure open up a little more. But what does the community intend to do with this 1.3 hectare land and the old buildings bought for 550,000 euros? For now, it seems blurry. But not housing, it seems certain.

In a press release sent at the beginning of the week, the Regional Directorate of Public Finances mentioned the city's wish to make the former prison "a cultural facility, open to all, thought out and imagined with associative actors". Vice-president of Rennes Métropole, André Crocq specified that the renovation will be part of a “participatory and citizen approach” inspired by what has been done at the Hotel Pasteur. This hybrid place houses a school but also associations and has rooms open to exhibitions and creative works. The great science museum for a time hoped for by former academics will not have seen the light of day.

In Jacques-Cartier, voices have been rising for years to set up a large memorial of justice within the former prison.

“Our desire is to create a place retracing the history of those who lived there: people shot, political or common-law prisoners, resistance fighters.

Like a memorial of justice, ”explains Christian Gentilleau.

"There are pigeons everywhere"

The president of the Champs de Justice association is not the only one to pull in this direction. The opposition group Révéler Rennes expressed the wish for the creation of "a hybrid equipment which would honor both the past with a large museum of justice and the future with spaces dedicated to leisure and the arts. digital ”, according to Carole Gandon. The elected LREM would like "a place open to new audiences, tourist and popular, not always to the same initiates who frequent the arty places of the city center".

Even before deciding on the future uses of the old prison dating from 1903, it will be necessary to assess its condition. With little or no maintenance since the move in 2010, the buildings have suffered. According to our information, it is above all the metal parts such as the many stairs and ramps leading to the cells that have suffered from the lack of maintenance. “It is very damaged. The water infiltration caused damage and there are pigeons everywhere, ”confirms Christian Gentilleau, who visited the place five years ago for the last time. Ideally, his association would like to have half of the 10,000 m² of the historic part. The other 5,000 m² are less steeped in history since they were built in the 1970s. “It is absolutely necessary to keep the rotunda and the three branches of the cross.But I believe that passages will have to be opened in the surrounding walls, ”continues the president of Champs de justice.

The “luck” of the metropolis comes from the fact that this building is not classified.

It does have two stars in the city of Rennes ranking, but the latter has only advisory value.

It will therefore be possible to tear down part of the enclosure which surrounds the buildings if necessary.

From October 7, these walls will also host a major exhibition on the abolition of the death penalty.

Photos and testimonials that will dress the imposing wall of purple schist.

The Champs de Justice association even hopes to be able to push the blue doors of the prison to hold its next events in the courtyard.

Reindeer

Rennes: Abandoned for ten years, the former Jacques-Cartier prison bought by the metropolis

Nantes

Nantes: "A place where you feel good ..." The impressive transformation of the old prison

  • Museum

  • Nathalie Appéré

  • Town planning

  • Immovable

  • Jail

  • Patrimony

  • Culture

  • Reindeer