On December 12, 2023, the last inmates of Hennequin prison in Troyes were transferred to the new Lavau remand center.
Since then, prison officials have been working hard to free the establishment which will pass into the hands of the city.
“The site has been declassified by the Ministry of Justice with an effective date of April 30, this is the day of legal release of the building,” clarified this Thursday the prefect of Aube, Cécile Dindar during an on-site visit with the mayor of Troyes and various stakeholders.
After some finishing work, the old prison will be officially handed over to the community “between May and the very beginning of summer”.
If it represents a challenge in terms of town planning due to its location in a historic area, the former remand center in the city center of Troyes can be an attractive asset for the municipality.
The mayor, François Baroin, also believes that the location of the former Cordeliers convent is “extraordinary” because it is notably “at the heart of the starting point of the development of the Triasse city”.
The community and the State quickly found a financial agreement, of around 400 thousand euros, but the chief magistrate is now focusing on the calendar.
When the city owns the establishment, elected officials will have to make decisions “in the next year and a half”.
An additional call for projects will be launched, probably on an international scale.
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“Large investors will be interested” according to the mayor who assures that the heart of the city needs quality housing.
François Baroin also plans to launch a citizen consultation on the reconversion of the prison establishment.
The objective is to listen, to open the place to the outside and to respect the expectations of the Trojans on “the type of space they want”.
Committed to the preservation of heritage, the mayor specifies that the work will be carried out in “partnership with Bâtiments de France” in order to preserve traces of history.
Thus, the establishment will not be completely razed.
“There is a part of the convent which is remarkable” notes François Baroin who also wishes to protect certain historic doors or walls decorated with friezes.
Concretely, “we will have to look detail by detail, square meter by square meter” adds the elected official.
Many architectural treasures
Based on the regulations for the protected sector, the architect of Bâtiments de France affirms that certain parts of the surrounding walls will be preserved because they are “original or very old”.
The sections located on the rue des Cordeliers side date from the beginning of the establishment of the prison in the 18th century.
“That does not mean that it will be forbidden to modify them, but we will have to respect the architecture before inserting contemporary elements, following a well-detailed project,” specifies Jean-Philippe Cauquelin.
The prison is located on the site of the former Cordeliers convent.
LP/Tony Boulenger
Observing the architectural elements such as the old twisted ironwork, the old floors and the arched windows in the chalk walls, the architect says he is “surprised”.
He had no idea that the old convent could still hide such treasures despite multiple works.
Jean-Philippe Cauquelin believes that the place has potential because of “its volume, its surface area and its framework, which could be restored as in Cellier-Saint-Pierre”.