“Luckily the walls don’t talk…”. Maguy Dudrat comes out a bit emotional from her visit to Pontaniou prison, this Friday afternoon, May 3, 2024, in Brest. “It’s shocking, how little we know. What humans may be capable of doing… There are places where there is no light. And the latrines outside… And these people we haven’t found…”. Since Thursday, until this Saturday, May 4 afternoon, the public can visit one of the sites most steeped in history in Brest. Places were quickly reserved.
The former Pontaniou prison will become a place of culture and tourism, as desired by the community. It is the project of Franck Jaclin, from the Route des pengouins, who was chosen on April 19 to carry it out, in consultation with associations. Before the building is completely rehabilitated, there is still time to show it off. Maybe again this summer.
“For a long time without a minimum of hygiene”
” It’s very interesting ! We learn lots of things,” says Régis Goulaouic, after the visit. “Dates for example. Sanitary facilities: until 1912, there were none. For a long time, the prison was without a minimum of hygiene. Or even 1952, when the prison passed from the Navy to the public,” he notes.
Alcatraz was closed in the late 1960s due to unsanitary conditions. But it was in ten times better condition than that of Pontaniou!
A couple from Bordeaux, originally from Brest, Alain and Ghislaine Corbel, are accompanied by their little dog Bidou. Passing through to see relatives, they “read on the Internet at the end of April that there were these visits organized at Pontaniou prison. We quickly registered! “.
“We can make the comparison with Alcatraz (in San Francisco, in the United States, Editor’s note), which we visited two years ago. It was closed at the end of the 1960s due to unsanitary conditions. But it was in ten times better condition than that of Pontaniou, although closed more than twenty years later, exclaims Alain. We were told that Brest then had the most unsanitary prison in France, and we can believe it…”.
“It’s hard to imagine that it only closed in 1990”
“It’s hard to imagine that it only closed in 1990: for us, it’s not far away,” smiles his wife. “We only knew from the outside,” he continues. What is striking is the smallness of this prison, which appears much larger from the outside. But with the thickness of the walls… We still wonder how the inmates could live decently.”
But the public already has an eye on what happens next. “This is one of the historic buildings of old Brest. If the rehabilitation is done in the same spirit as that of the Capuchins, it will be really great! », continues Ghislaine Corbel. Régis Goulaouic approves. “The new project can be nice, at least keeping the spirit. The bulk of the building will remain, notably the surrounding wall and the caretaker’s house. At one time, their family lived with them! »
“Knowing that it will be preserved, that the history of Brest is not going away, that this wart will not be crushed but rehabilitated, that’s a good thing,” Marie also believes. We saw so many things that were going to be done here… I’m waiting to see before judging.”
