C19 Industrial 'Utopia' opens up

More than 5,000 people are expected to visit the Familistère de Guise on Thursday – the Fête du Travail.

The bank holiday is associated with workers’ rights, so it is appropriate the Familistère – a model example of 19th Century workers’ accommodation – should be opening for visitors on this day.

The six-hectare site in Picardy is part-way through a long-term project to restore it to its original condition.

It was built by industrialist Jean-Baptiste André Godin, who had 2,000 workers.

Inspired by Utopian ideals, he believed a key element of progress was improving the intellect and morals of the working classes – hence the Familistère, a huge accommodation complex near to his factory, which included a library, a theatre, a school, a crèche and a swimming pool.

It remained in use much as Godin planned until 1968, when the management association he set up ceased to exist.

It was bought by investors who “did not respect the unity of the place,” according to Jean-Pierre Balligand, president of the departmental council and of the syndicate which was formed to buy back and run the site in 2000.

Since then the syndicate has been working bit by bit to restore it to its former glory, maintaining a mix of housing at different price brackets.

Local government and the EU are financing a €40 million restoration which should be complete in 2015.

By then it is expected it will attract up to 100,000 visitors a year. Two museums, exhibition rooms and a hotel are planned.