Austrian historian Harald Binder bought Lviv Jam Factory this summer, intending to turn this old building into a major cultural facility, which will include art workshops, a theater, and concert venues.
The date for the renovated factory’s restart has not been set yet, as the strategy of the project is still being developed. “I cannot tell you much at the moment. We started with the architectural competition, which was attended by five architectural firms. Our choice was Atelier Stephan Rindler from Vienna, and now its representatives are developing a detailed concept of reconstruction of the building. Reconstruction will involve a lot of work, since the building is in rather poor condition, having been unheated for many years,” we learned from Bozhena Zakaliuzhna, director of Harald Binder Cultural Enterprises. “Probably, we will hold events and launch various programs even as reconstruction will be conducted. It will not be at the factory itself, because it will be closed for the repairs.”
The former owner of the building, Lviv businessman Oleksii Kurylyshyn, supported cultural initiatives launched by activists. Past year, the building hosted the Day of Open Doors with master classes, discussions, and entertainment events, as well as the Week of Contemporary Art festival and film screenings. At the end, though, Binder took an interest in the development of the factory, and the Ukrainian businessman sold the property to him. “Binder has become interested in the cultural center project, the way he will be able to find a new perspective on it,” Zakaliuzhna stressed.
The Jam Factory Cultural Center may contribute to the development of urban infrastructure. The building is located far from the city center, in the historic industrial district called Pidzamche. Transport links with it are inconvenient currently. “We want to have public transportation routes reaching the factory. Also, a wonderful cycling route can be created here. There is a small park nearby, and a bicycle path can be laid out there. We hope city officials will assist us somehow,” Zakaliuzhna said. “But in any case, when the factory will appear on people’s mental maps, the distance to it will not seem too great.”
The factory’s past is somewhat unclear. Some assume that the first buildings in this area appeared back in the 17th and 18th centuries. The ancient foundation stones of the building support this view. We know that the factory belonged to Kornik and Son Co. in the early 20th century and produced spirits. With the advent of the Soviet administration, the factory first operated as a cannery, and subsequently housed a winery of the Ukrholovvyno concern, which received whole tanks of imported wine from Algeria and Moldova and bottled it. The property was retooled in the 1970s to serve as a vegetable processing and jammaking facility. Industrial activity stopped there in the early 1990s.
It was almost 20 years later, in 2009, that the factory was first used as a space for artistic events. Growing numbers of artists and culture activists learned about the former jam factory ever since. And now, the old building has a real chance to become yet another and very original cultural center of Lviv and revive a remote area of the city.
