Saint-Gobain Glacery

In the 19th century, a series of glassblowing factories opened their doors in the valley of the 'Basse-Sambre' - namely in Aiseau (1837), Floreffe (1853), Auvelais (1875), Moustier (1885), Auvelais again (1889), and Franière (1898).
Under Louis XIV, the first glass factory, specialized in the production of cast glass, was founded at the castle of Saint-Gobain in the Aisne department.
It is on this growing 'Société Anonyme des Manufactures de Glaces et Produits Chimiques de Saint-Gobain, Chauny et Cirey' that a branch was established in Franière in 1898.
A complete social structure quickly forms around the factory: houses reflecting the hierarchical differences within the factory, a school, a purchasing center, and other shops settle next to the old village core.
The factory employed up to 2,000 people before WWI and about 600 during the interwar period.
By the late 1940s, the site was growing rapidly.
In the late 1970s, the Franière factory was absorbed by 'les Glaces Nationales Belges Saint-Roch' from Auvelais and production was replaced by storage for the finished products from Auvelais and Jemeppe.
The final closure occurred in December 1993.
However, the site was bought by a businessman who breathed new life into it: about a dozen SMEs set up there.
But then fate struck on May 10, 2001: a massive fire destroyed more than half of the buildings.
A go-kart track and some municipal services still have their premises there, but the site remains in decline to this day...

Wizpr.guide