Papet. Godinne
Information
In August 2007 I was on holiday in the Ardennes and I biked past this factory, as one of the many abandoned factories there. However this one was looking rather nice from the outside, so I hid my bike and went for it. It turned out to be boring.
History
The industrial history of this valley and location goes back to the Dark Ages. In 1405 the first paper factory was founded here, using the river in the valley as source of water and energy. Later in 1830 the first large water mill was build and at the end of the 19th century this paper factory was established.
In 1967 all paper producing activities were stopped at this location, however there are still posters from the end of the eighties on pallets in the building. So I think the site was only closed somewhere around that time.
Nowadays the site is partly used by a large steel producing company. The location also has been recognized as a SAED by the Wallonian government.
This means that there formerly was economic activity on this site, or in more clear language, rotten empty buildings. In an attempt to cleanse the image of the south of Belgium (tourism) all these sites are being demolished. In 2005 they started to demolish the buildings and reconverted it into a park, where the drug addicts of the large city use to hang out. In March of 2008 the orders to destroy the remaining buildings were given.