We returned this summer to the old UCMR platform, the one that stretches along the left bank of the Bârzava River, in the old working-class town, below Golului Colony – we include below some photos from the few excursions to this site over the last few years. The old UCMR platform was developed between 1886-1975 and is also locally called the ABC platform, we haven't figured out why yet, possibly because it has everything. The site's over 30 hectares include tens of thousands of square meters of industrial halls (partially in use, taken over by Hidroelectrica), old administrative buildings and design offices, two bunkers that could house a few thousand employees, a protocol villa, the former polyclinic and factory park, a small museum full of precious artifacts, and a complex of factory greenhouses.

Uzina Constructoare de Mașini Reșița (UCMR) is a branch detached from UDR – Reșița Factories and Domains – encompassing the machine-building industry branch, complementary to its counterpart across the river, the Reșița Metallurgical Combine. For a long time, UCMR was the largest enterprise in western Romania, producing steam locomotives, energy equipment, Diesel engines, and equipment for the hydroelectric, naval, and extractive industries. At its peak, the lives of almost 30,000 employees revolved around UCMR. Thus, the factory profoundly marked the local identity: almost every Reșița resident had a "ucemerist" in their family. In my 9 years of sustained activity in Reșița, I have observed a huge attachment to everything UCMR represents, stemming from the local well-being and pride in the factory that generated it.

In the last 30 years, the former UCMR industrial sites have undergone profound changes. The largest of these, the Mociur site, which spanned over 60 hectares, has been gradually completely demolished (here is a sequence from the demolition), except for 2 structures with uncertain futures (the cooling tower and the bearing hall).

In 2024, the old UCMR platform – the historical cradle of the factory, and the most valuable complex within the entire factory heritage – has reached a crossroads. A significant part of this platform has been taken over by Hidroelectrica. According to the company's official statement available here, UCMR's asset base is "unique in Southeastern Europe and essential for streamlining Hidroelectrica's maintenance and re-technologization activities" given that UMCR "has contributed over time to equipping approximately 80% of Hidroelectrica's power plants".

The rest of the platform is managed by an insolvency firm and is to be dismantled and sold off. Faced with this turning point, a joint mobilization is necessary – of experts, the local community, authorities, and the private sector – to answer the essential questions: what is valuable and worth preserving as industrial heritage? how can the remnants of the old platform be transformed and who will undertake this process?

The Reșița City Hall already took a first step in 2025, acquiring significant properties (Vila Roșie and Vila de Protocol – LMI class B monuments, a bunker, annex buildings, 6.4 hectares of land), with the stated intention to also make efforts to acquire the Diesel Hall and the UCMR Museum.

However, the acquisition is just the beginning of a long and complex process: documentation, generating conversion scenarios, building political consensus and public support, mobilizing expertise and financial resources. We aim to mobilize the Reșița 250 LAB network starting in 2026 towards this platform, supporting and assisting these first initiatives of the Reșița City Hall. Stay tuned for news!

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Photos taken in 2023 and 2025 by Bella & Flo and Marina Batog