The municipality of San Vicente del Raspeig (Alicante, 59,138 inhabitants) has a sleeping mastodon in its backyard. A ten-minute walk from the parish dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer, in the heart of the area, the remains of a cement factory hibernate, occupying a land area of nearly 200,000 square meters, barely separated from the urban layout by a railway line. It was this industry, created in 1927 to take advantage of the nearby quarries, that allowed the growth of the city, located 9.5 kilometers from Alicante. It grew so much that the proximity of the population center forced its activity to be paralyzed, since 1992 under the command of the multinational Cemex. The complex, a sample of some 70 buildings of industrial architecture, with chimneys, ovens, warehouses and pavilions, some of them with total or partial protection, is still waiting to be given new uses. An exhibition of works by Architecture students from the University of Alicante (UA), whose campus is in the San Vicente municipality, has provided ideas since its inauguration last week. But 15 years after its closure, in 2009, the eternal question of what can be done with the cement factory remains unanswered. Or, rather, with infinite answers.
The presentation by the UA students includes five strategies that could be addressed as soon as the future of the cement company takes off. All of them combine public provisions and private services. All of them offer solutions that include compatibility with green areas and good connections both with the urban center of San Vicente and with the surroundings, which include routes for public transport and bicycle lanes. Pablo Martí Ciriquian, the professor in the Department of Building and Urban Planning at the UA who has directed the project, points out that the cement company “offers a wide range of possibilities, with the reconditioning of protected buildings and respectful intervention in those that have partial protection. ”. The facilities are made up of “large containers that support any weight, very diaphanous, capable of hosting any type of activity.” And he highlights its significance, beyond the municipal environment: “It is a space of articulation between the urban planning of San Vicente and the region, with enormous territoriality.”
The dimensions of the space and its generosity with the possibilities it offers are, in reality, the diving boots that slow down its development. On the one hand, they require making the right decision among a catalog of astronomical proportions. And, on the other hand, the participation “of other administrations and the university,” says the mayor, Pachi Pascual (PP). Breathing life back into the cement factory “is a city project in which all municipal political groups are involved, but it must become a strategic plan for the entire region of l'Alacantí,” he asserts. There is no rush. “It is a project for the medium or long term, which will require a very significant investment,” he admits.
The government team chaired by Pascual is not the first to try to restore vital signs to the cement company. After the cessation of activity, in 2009, “a first agreement was already established for its reactivation,” he recalls. “The economic crisis put it on hold, but we want to take it back, revitalize it, and during this term we will take the first steps.” “We must act because, the more time passes, the more the whole deteriorates,” he says. One of those first steps has been the brainstorming of architecture students. “The exhibition gives us very different visions of what can be done in this space, for the recovery of land for public use, whether for public use, sports or leisure,” he comments. “It can also be accompanied by an economic activity linked to technology, given the proximity of the UA science park,” he proposes. “And also for tertiary or commercial use, and even housing a residence for seniors or students.” Pascual will also involve the San Vicenteros, who will be able to make his suggestions. There are no limits. “It could house a large shopping center, and even a fairground for the entire metropolitan area.”
In fact, sparks have already been generated to breathe life into the giant. “We have maintained some contact with Cemex, the multinational owner, in which we conveyed our intention to give public use to the land and they view it favorably,” he says. They have also begun the elimination of the railway barrier that separates it from the San Vicente street. “The first thing is to make the union between the town and the land permeable, integrate them into the urban area,” Pascual declares. “There is a pedestrian crossing, but a second, underground one is already being planned,” says the mayor.
JOAQUIN DE HARO RODRIGUEZ
The complex could “confer a tourist plus to San Vicente, since not all municipalities have such infrastructure,” continues Pascual, for whom “the future of San Vicente lies here.” Esmeralda Martínez, architect, geographer and associate professor at the UA, holds the same opinion, who in May 2023 reported in a thread on the social network X (formerly Twitter) the situation of the colossal infrastructure. “The cement plant would differentiate the municipality, since in this current framework of globalization, these types of buildings gain interest because they provide uniqueness,” she says. Martínez visited the facilities: “The size of the buildings is overwhelming, they are on a brutal scale in which you feel very tiny, like in a Gothic cathedral.” In her opinion, the opportunity to recover the complex cannot be missed, which is “a great reference component for the population, it has remained among the San Vicente residents as their own identity, it generates a feeling of belonging.” The architect suggests that “it could be used to regenerate the entire environment, including the closest neighborhoods, such as Tubo, Los Manchegos or Granada, which belongs to Alicante.” She also proposes combining “public use with private use, reconsidering its environment and how it dialogues with its surroundings.” Finally, she advises studying “how to unite both San Vicente and Alicante, and even consider its connection with the expansion of the UA through its science park.”