We are starting. The Factory Greenhouses are becoming a community project.
This week, we, Make Better, and the Banatul Montan Community Foundation signed the purchase agreement for the Factory Greenhouses.

The Factory Greenhouses are part of the old UCMR industrial platform (more details about this platform here), on the left bank of the Bârzava river, about a 15–20 minute walk from the center of Reșița. They are hidden at the end of a road, at the edge of the forest, in a place that many Reșița residents don't even know they can access.

The property we are acquiring has almost 13,000 sqm of land and includes 8 greenhouses built in different stages (from the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s) and several administrative buildings and auxiliary spaces. In total, 17 cadastered constructions and other secondary structures, in various states of decay.

Once upon a time, these greenhouses produced flowers, vegetables, and exotic plants for the factory management and official visitors. They were a privileged, protected place, almost invisible to the rest of the city.

Today they are degraded, overgrown with vegetation, littered with piles of chipped pots, dried cacti and palm trees, and their glass roofs pierced by young trees. But still full of character and potential.

Why are we taking this step?

• Because Reșița needs places that bring people together.
• Because Reșița's remarkable industrial heritage means not only halls and machinery, but also seemingly marginal spaces, yet loaded with history.
• Because in too many post-industrial cities, abandoned assets either end up degrading and disappearing, or being taken over without a vision focused on the common good.
• Because we are confident that civil society organizations have the power to act as active vectors of urban regeneration, not just passive users or spectators.

In 2026, the Make Better Association will celebrate 10 years of involvement in Reșița, and we are marking this year by entering a new phase. We will be active stakeholders in the regeneration of the city's industrial heritage, co-owners alongside the Banatul Montan Community Foundation, committed to a vision of regeneration and opening to the community of the entire UCMR site, together with the Reșița City Hall, which has taken over / is in the process of taking over the other valuable assets on this site: Vila Albă (the protocol villa) and Vila Roșie (the former director's residence, later converted into a factory polyclinic), the Computing Center, and the UCMR Museum.

And for the Banatul Montan Community Foundation, the Factory Greenhouses represent an opportunity to get directly involved in protecting and revitalizing Reșița's unique heritage, a vast, unvalued, yet community-cherished heritage. Through this project, we are adding a new dimension to the foundation's strategy, transforming a degraded site into a vibrant, open, and useful space for the community, where history, nature, and local initiative meet, and where Reșița residents can regain pride in their industry – transformed, but alive, showing that the industrial past has not ended, but can be reinvented.

What we envision for the Factory Greenhouses:

• We envision an open community space, integrated into the future revitalized UCMR site, with gardening plots, restored greenhouses used as a micro-botanical garden, community-tended flower and vegetable nurseries, and spaces for creation and events. A clearing in the forest with a summer kitchen for events and a camping spot for Via Transilvanica hikers.
• We are not rushing; we are charting our course step by step, in consultation with both the community and specialists, designing an ecosystem of functions that will support each other in terms of costs and resources.
• We seek to partner with similar initiatives in the country and abroad – community gardens, community land trusts, civic heritage management – to learn and strengthen our capacity together.

What's next:

(1) We will launch a fundraising campaign aiming to raise, together with FCBM, EUR 200,000 over a period of 3 years for:

• Completion of the purchase process – EUR 100,000. We have signed the purchase agreement, yes, but we have not yet paid the full amount, undertaking to pay in installments as we manage to collect the necessary sum.
• Priority interventions and activation – EUR 100,000. The plan of priority activities for the first years includes: securing the constructions, reconnecting to utilities, clearing invasive vegetation and debris/collapsing structures, operationalizing an irrigation system by collecting rainwater, and a recurring program of activation activities – gardening, nursery, guided tours, and events.

(2) From April 23-25, we are organizing the international industrial heritage conference “Regenerating Places, Reimagining Futures” in Reșița, an occasion to present our initiative to a local, national, and international audience. The conference program will also include visits to the UCMR site and other industrial heritage sites in the city;

(3) On June 12-13, we are pleased to host a satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival – an international initiative highlighting how engaged citizens, together with local authorities, can actively contribute to the development and shaping of their communities. During this satellite event, we will organize visits to the greenhouses and discussions about their future.

(4) With the support of the Romanian Order of Architects, and in partnership with the Informal Spatial Planning Workshop, we will conduct the second edition of the Reșița Industrial Heritage School – a summer school – from July to August. Under the guidance of a team of specialists, approximately 20 students, master's students, doctoral students, and early-career professionals in architecture, urbanism, restoration, and spatial planning will develop initial transformation directions for the entire UCMR old platform site, which will form the basis for future design projects for this site;

(5) During July–August, in partnership with the Volunteering for All Association, we will organize an international volunteer camp at the Factory Greenhouses. Over several series of volunteers, local and international participants will contribute to the first concrete actions to activate the space: clearing invasive vegetation, sanitizing the greenhouses, setting up gardening areas, and simple community meeting spaces. The camp will also include educational and creative workshops (urban gardening, composting, DIY, discussions about nature in the city and urban regeneration), as well as moments of meeting and cultural exchange with the local community. We hope Reșița residents will join us, turning this project into a collective effort built by the community for the community.

(6) We will continue to communicate about the Factory Greenhouses initiative, the fundraising campaign, and the aforementioned events on the platform www.muzeulvirtualresita.ro as well as on the websites www.mkbt.ro and https://fundatiacomunitarabanatulmontan.ro .

We need your support!

• You can already donate to support the Factory Greenhouses initiative by supporting any of the ambassadors registered at Timotion for this cause: Together we save the greenhouses!
• Want to lend a hand with planting, tending gardens, renovating greenhouses and auxiliary buildings? Sign up for our newsletter for news, volunteer camps, and next steps.

Together, let's bring the greenhouses to life!