C-mine, Genk

The Winterslag colliery at Genk closed in 1988 and the site was redeveloped from 2005 as C-mine, keeping the two shaft headframes, the engine hall and the main buildings and inserting a design academy, a cinema, a theatre, exhibition halls, workshops and restaurants into them. The industrial fabric was deliberately left legible rather than smoothed over. Two things are ticketed: the C-mine Expedition, a route through the underground and the machine halls with sound and light, ending with a climb up one of the headframes for a view over the Kempen; and a design and craft exhibition programme. The square between the shafts, with the two headframes standing over it, is the image of the place.

What you actually see

• Two shaft headframes - the winding towers kept over the square.
• The engine hall - the machinery of the colliery in place.
• The Expedition route - underground passages with sound and light.
• The headframe climb - a view over the Kempen from the top.

When to go

Year round; the site is open ground at all hours and the ticketed routes have set opening. Two to three hours. The Expedition closes on some weekdays out of season. Events run through the year.

Honest expectations

The Expedition is a designed experience rather than a historical tour and some visitors find it thin on mining history. The headframe climb has many steps. The site is spread out. Interpretation is largely in Dutch.

Nearby

The Hoge Kempen park is east; Hasselt lies west.