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| Changing Faces of the Canals |
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The Paris Canals, known for their eccentric
charms, are set to undergo some big changes
The cobblestones may be a bit uneven for the rollerbladers but
the rest of the people passing their afternoon along this stretch
of the Canal St. Martin don't mind.
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Feeding the pigeons
on the bank of the Canal. © JoMarie Fecci
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An old man throws a few crusts of bread
to a flock of pigeons. The young art student keeps sketching the
father and son piloting their radio controlled toy boat in the wake
of the big tourist sightseeing barge.
This waterway is not like the more majestic
Seine with its picture postcard idea of a romantic walk along the
waters edge. The canal seems more "real" -- less an attraction
for tourists than a place for neighborhood residents to hang out.
It's a meeting place. A place to pass some idle time watching the
old men fishing or the teenage boys acting silly
And the canal -- which is actually a single
network formed by the Ourcq, Saint-Denis and Saint Martin, with
Canal Ourcq feeding the other two -- will soon be undergoing a serious
transformation.
Paris Mayor Jean Tiberi, in May, announced
a six-year $85.7 million project to renovate the canals. When the
work is finished, increased cargo traffic on the waterways will
reduce pollution and truck traffic in and around the city. The quays
will also be more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists, and the
whole area will be rejuvenated.
This will not be the first time the canal
undergoes massive change. In fact, its history is full of transformation,
as the waterway evolved to fit the changing city scape over the
last hundred-odd years. The system, built in the early 1800s by
Napoleon Bonaparte, today includes a network of waterways stretching
81 miles across very different Paris neighborhoods and into the
suburbs.
Reflecting a Changing City
The construction of the canals in the early
1800s changed the character of the capital and influenced the city's
development until today. Before the waterways were built, Paris
had been served by a scattered system of pumps and fountains. By
the 19th century this ad hoc network could no longer supply sufficient
water flow for the growing population.
Napoleon Bonaparte wanted something that
could consistently deliver water throughout the city. He also wanted
a "beltway" so boats could avoid crossing Paris via the
Seine, allowing the river to become a more majestic centerpiece
for his capital. The canals promised to do these two things simultaneously.
The emergence of a new economic zone in
the eastern section of the city was an unintended benefit of the
new inland waterway. Before the construction of the canals, this
was one of the least urbanized areas of the city. In fact, until
its annexation by the Ville de Paris in 1860, large sections of
the canal fell outside city limits.
Work on the waterways began with the canal
Ourcq in 1802 under the direction of engineer Pierre-Simon Girard.
Just six years later, the Basin of la Villette, the first part of
the project completed, was providing water. The canal Saint Denis
entered service on May 13, 1821, and the canal Saint Martin followed
in 1825.
The consistent flow of water into the heart
of Paris inaugurated a period of modernization as the city became
progressively cleaner and healthier. Forwarded to fountains, the
water also contributed to the beautification of Paris. The Fellah
fountain (rue de Sèvres) and the Palmier fountain (Place
du Châtelet) are two outstanding examples of the decorative
fountains which grew up around the city once water was regularly
available.
Anxious for Paris to avoid heavy financial
obligations, Girard created the Compagnie des Canaux de Paris, which
ensured the financing and guided construction to completion in 1862.
To help pay for the projects, the company built factories and warehouses
along the banks of the canals.
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A quiet stretch of the
canal St. Martin.
© JoMarie Fecci |
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With the spread of industrialization,
the area around the canals developed quickly. The canal Saint-Martin
was home to many harbor activities and businesses related to the presence
of the canal, such as laundries, tanneries, iron foundries, manufacturers,
and distributors of construction materials. In 1845, the dock-warehouses
appeared along the basin of la Villette, radically altering the landscape
of the site. Slaughter-houses, the cattle market, and the addition
of the Grands Moulins de Pantin (1884, rebuilt in 1923) soon gave
la Villete a familiar industrial character with a heavy volume of
port traffic. |
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By the time the city of Paris bought back
the concession from the Compagnie des Canaux, in 1876, the waterways
needed to be modified to handle new and larger boats. They also
desperately needed repairs.
As the neighborhood changed, the canal
Saint-Martin underwent spectacular transformations. Narrow bridges
that had eased the withdrawal of the insurgents of the faubourg
Saint-Antoine during the riots of 1830 and 1848 were replaced by
a covered vault on the North side of Place de la Bastille.
In the spirit of Haussman's ambitious beautification project, this
also facilitated plans to connect la Republic and la Nation across
the Boulevard Voltaire, and the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir was built.
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At the turn of the century, the Paris canals
passed through a contrasting and varied landscape, with the Haussmann
buildings next to modest constructions which were, in turn, next
to the new industrial buildings along the Canal St. Martin. An anarchic
maze of warehouses, workshops and factories characterized the area
from the rotonde de Ledoux to the city limits, further north.
A new kind of social discourse developed
within these districts where workmen, mariners and dockers mingled
with -- or confronted -- a suburban population traditionally conservative
and profoundly "French." This image of the canals became
enshrined in modern myth, as painters and writers alike found inspiration
in these picturesque industrial quartiers. Eugene Dabit published
"L'Hôtel du Nord" in 1934, which inspired director
Marcel Carné's classic 1938 film. A life size replica of
a section of the Canal Saint Martin was constructed in the studios
of Boulogne-Billancourt for the filming.
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The canal has always had
a unique and "popular" character.
© JoMarie Fecci |
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The canal's celebrity began to wear thin
in the post-war period, as the city's industrial character gave
way to a more modern economy.
The Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal Ourcq
remained crucial for the transport of building materials in Île-de-France
(1 million tons per annum approximately), but the shipment of freight
along the Canal Saint Martin became rare. The landscape around the
canals was changing too. Tall buildings were going up just a few
meters from the water, with no thought toward harmonization with
existing structures. The banks of the waterways began to be used
as parking lots, and the boulevard Richard-Lenoir started losing
its sense of unity.
The preeminence of road transport and the
departure of numerous industries from the city center, put the canal's
utility in doubt. At the start of the 1960s there was even talk
of paving over it to construct an urban autoroute.
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| When the canal was cleaned
as part of an earlier renovation project, all kinds of debris
was found. © JoMarie Fecci |
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Luckily, a new sensibility to the urban
environment fed a public backlash to this neglect. And by the 1970s,
the waterways again became the target for grand restoration projects
now oriented toward persevering their qualities rather than
transforming them.
In 1983, the Bassin de l'Arsenal welcomed
the port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal, and a new promenade was
designed along the Richard-Lenoir boulevard in 1990. The creation
of the parc de la Villette opened up the area around the canal,
while emphasizing the historical buildings and monuments in its
path.
The Future on the Canals
The plan announced in May is, according to the
Tiberi, "intended to make the role of the canal in Parisian
life even more dynamic than in the past -- on the level of transport,
history, landscape and recreation."
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| The renovation project has two major objectives: to
reinforce the role of the canals in connecting the Seine to itself
through the center of the city; and to beautify the landscape and
develop recreational programs that take into account the diversity
of the neighborhoods the canal travels through. |
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| The project will also have to take
into account the need for serious structural repairs to the infrastructure
of the waterways. Though they have undergone regular maintenance over
the years, the canals remain in a state of disrepair. Just last year,
the Bassin du Combat on the canal Saint-Martin collapsed and had to
be rebuilt. As a preventative measure, two other basins -- le Bassin
Louis Blanc et le Bassin des Récollets -- will be rehabilitated
at a cost of about 130 millions francs. The walls of the quays, the
bed, the locks, ramps and stairways must also be rehabilitated. |
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Detail of the renovation plan.
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"Of course the canal isn't only a
succession of waterworks, basins, staircases and locks. It's the
people that live along it, that work on it, and that walk along
it. The residents of the quartiers that surround it who are reappropriating
it little by little. We must encourage them, but also permit other
Parisians and...tourists to discover it," said Tiberi. To this
end, the landscape along the canals is being reworked so that the
area is more comfortable and inviting, making a stroll along the
canal after dinner a more appealing pastime. And the hours when
the quays are closed to vehicle traffic (currently Sundays from
2pm to 6pm) will be expanded.
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However, the plan doesn't stop there.
In an effort to encourage tourism and recreational use by
those who don't live in the immediate area, there are several
proposals to radically change the character of the canals
and the surrounding area.
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Tiberi envisions an expanded system of
canal shuttles along the waterway, to take Parisians to points of
interest in outlying areas complete with new itineraries adapted
for bike riding (including rental bases and a system of bike paths).
Programs for tourists will be intensified on the Bassin de l'Arsenal.
And a center of activity around the Bassin Louis Blanc will be developed
to include restaurants, and leisure activities centered on the water.
While a significant increase in canal tourism in the segment north
of la rue du Faubourg du Temple is problematic due to the navigational
difficulties of the Canal Saint-Martin's nine locks, the more navigable
southern part -- with its intriguing underground segment -- offers
interesting possibilities.
"As you can see , our projects for
the canal are ambitious," said Tiberi, making a bit of an understatement.
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