“not walls that we tear down, but memories that we let fade”

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In Meaux, the program of urban renovation of the Beauval district continues. Sunday December 15, 2024 at 1 p.m., the city will bid farewell to the towers Camargue and Chambord, two buildings demolished by Pays de Meaux Habitat.

They will be reduced to dust and a pile of pieces of concrete and will let go of decades of memories. A whole part of the history of Meaux which is leaving and does not leave its former tenants indifferent.

Years of good memories

“I will not go to the demolition, it will hurt my heart so much » says Véronique, with a touch of nostalgia in her voice. This 53-year-old mother lived in Chambord, on the 3rd floor, from 1996 to 2001. “I only have good memories! When I pass through the neighborhood, I always look up to see my apartment. »

This building is a part of his history, a fragment of his life. “I came here after my separation. It was my first apartment with my children as a single woman. It was a new beginning. My children grew up there. »

Véronique is not the only one in this situation. These towers are part, at different levels, of the life of each of the inhabitants who lived there. Isabelle lived on the 2nd floor of Camargue, “in the core”, between 1994 and 2001.

When I arrived, my first son was 6 months old. I was pregnant with my second son there.

Some are these children who grew up in these buildings. Like Babeth, who lived in the Camargue tower from the age of 6 months to the age of 25. “My parents lived there until December 2023, and my four siblings were all born there. My children had a great time there too,” says the now 43-year-old mother.

The towers are places of life, where entire generations have followed one another. “This building was the setting of my childhood, of my laughter, of my dreams. It was a place where neighbors were not just neighbors, but extended family. »

These women always keep these beautiful years in their hearts, both through quality of apartments “large and spacious”, only by the conviviality and solidarity with the neighborhood. “We meet each other often. There was always someone to lend us salt. I also remember my neighbor downstairs. She worked at the hospital and we arranged to look after our children. The neighbors were kind and available,” continues Véronique.

She also remembers the neighbors' holidays, birthdays, Christmases… “For the Happy New Year, we went out into the corridors to kiss each other! » For Isabelle, her memories take her back to coffee times with neighbors, or children playing outside at the foot of buildings.

We knew everyone!

“Camargue was the place where each corridor told a story, where each floor vibrated with the sounds of life. The laughter of the children playing downstairs, the lively discussions between neighbors, the little impromptu parties… It was all part of our daily life, of my identity” adds Babeth, moved by the demolition of December 15.

“It’s not just walls that we tear down, but memories that we let fade, slices of life that we put aside. And yet, these stories, these precious moments, will always live in my memory and in my heart. »

A building that has deteriorated in recent years

Beautiful years which totally differ from the more recent reputation of the Meaux tripods. Because, if the City has initiated a major urban renovation plan with the gradual demolition of the towers since 1990, it is also for promote social diversity et fight against drug trafficking located in these buildings.

“I didn’t know drugs. It was another era. Personally, I only remember positive things about it now. I still know people who still lived there. I was told that things had changed. It was no longer the same Chambord” adds Véronique. “ Everything was clean.It was better before! », adds Isabelle.

After the demolition, it will be the turn of the building Provence smaller. It will be destroyed with a backhoe. Then, these three buildings will give way to buildings, smaller, on a human scale. “On the vacated land, Pays de Meaux Habitat will intervene as a developer for the construction of new housing buildings divided into 5 lots,” explains the lessor.

Along the Ourcq canal, apartments intended to accommodate accession to private property will be built on lots A and B. social housing will also be developed on lots C and D, as well as public facilitieson the ground floor “in order to guarantee diversity […] and meet the needs of the community.

Finally, the last lot, E, must accommodatesocial access to property.

New homes where new stories will be written. A new book is about to be written in Beauval.

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