C-mine

About

Up until the 1960s, Genk’s economy centred around coal extraction, which made it one of Belgium’s most important industrial centres. The Winterslag area, where C-mine is located now, was originally built in the early 1900s as a suburb of Genk, constructed by the mining company to house its workers. The coal mines at Winterslag were shut down in 1988, leaving the sites which were once the core of the city’s economy abandoned, and 7000 miners unemployed. This reinforced Genk’s need to transition from its monocultural industry approach to a more diversified economy. C-mine, alongside other initiatives that re-purpose Genk’s industrial heritage sites (such as Thor Park and LABIOMISTA), emerges in this context. In 1999, the Genk Council of Aldermen decided to purchase Winterslag, a deal finalized in 2001 after it was established that the site would be transformed into a creative hub anchored in its industrial heritage. The architectural and design studio 51N4E was hired to develop the project in the historical buildings, but a name remained to be found. In 2005, the city council organized an open call competition to select a name for the project. The winner was local Massimo de Nittis, grandson of a miner, who had proposed the name “C-mine”, which combined “creativity”, “communication”, “cinema”, “culture”, as well as the word “see”, with the preservation of the concept of “mine”. The renovation of the main building was completed in 2010. Nowadays, all heritage buildings at C-mine are renovated and have a new purpose, turning C-mine into a cultural, entrepreneurial, educational and recreational centre for the city of Genk. [1;2;3;4;5] 

C-mine has been developed to repurpose the old coal mining site and turn it into a creative hub rooted in the city’s industrial heritage. The hub is a lively cultural and innovation centre that attracts businesses and creatives to the city and diversifies its economy. In the process of redevelopment, the historic coal mining buildings were renovated by 51N4E into a complex of multipurpose spaces. Nowadays, a multitude of associations, businesses, and artists is present on-site, along with the Luca School of Arts, the Genk FabLab, a movie theatre and several restaurants. There is also a business incubator, as well as several co-working and art installation spaces to facilitate workshops, promote heritage education and offer space for creativity and innovation. C-mine also created  a museum, where visitors can get a glimpse of life in the mines through a Virtual Reality experience. [1; 6]

Governance

The municipality of Genk is the main one responsible for C-mine. They have appointed a Director-Intendant, who sets out the artistic lines for C-mine and who oversees the realization of these lines together with the team of people working at C-mine. Several aspects of the site are realized through partnerships with a range of public and/or private partners. [7;8]

Business Model

The site was bought by the city of Genk, and the project was financed under the Limburg Objective 2 Program from 2000-2006. Financing thus came from the European Regional Development Fund Limburg and the city of Genk. From 2007-2013 the project was financed by the Flanders RCE Programme. In addition to the local municipality funding and the fees received through tickets or venue/space rental, in 2014, there was a 217 million euro grant pledged by the Flemish government for the redevelopment of Genk’s former mining sites. Thus, the city developed an Integrated Territorial Instrument (ITI), which made it possible to also use multiple EU Funds (ESF, ERDF and the Cohesion Fund). A programme of tax incentives and subsidies was designed to convince creative companies and academic institutions to settle in the area of the former coal mine. [1;2]