One of the largest undeveloped sites in the center of Częstochowa is still waiting for a second life. The "Elanex" spinning mill has been falling into disrepair for more than 20 years, and its site is covered by a debt of tens of millions of zlotys - despite this it has found a buyer, which turned out to be the local government of Czestochowa. Now the city announces the creation of the "Spinning Mill of the Future" and organizes iterdisciplinary workshops to indicate the direction of development of the post-industrial complex. What could thwart these ambitious plans?
Czestochowa, once the capital of the province and an important place on the map of Silesia, is today a city facing numerous problems. This is a result of political changes and administrative reform, which deprived Częstochowa not only of its status, but also of access to infrastructure and financing. One of the great concerns of the city's residents is the lack of a soccer stadium to meet the needs of the community and a local soccer club that achieves success in national and international arenas:
It is inadequately reported that Raków Football Club, the 2023 Polish Champion and participant in pan-European cups, still plays in its small, 5,000-seat stadium, called a chicken coop by Częstochowa residents. As a result, the team cannot play in its own city; fans have to travel to Sosnowiec for European cup matches.
- Karol Walachowski said in an interview for Architektura&Biznes magazine.
Karol Walachowski also mentions other consequences of the unfair reform - including deteriorated access to public services and even a low level of public debate or local media.
The buildings of the Elanex factory in Częstochowa
Photo: Adam Chamczyk © CC BY 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
A stadium instead of a spinning mill?
This does not mean, however, that Częstochowa is not looking to the future. The city on the Warta River is developing both private businesses, as exemplified by the upcoming construction of a new housing development on the Zawodzie power plant site, and public projects. Modernization of public spaces is planned, new roads and overpasses are being built, and recently Czestochowa has joined the ranks of cities that have successfully introduced night prohibition on alcohol sales.
Surprisingly, however, the biggest change is preparing to take place in the Old Town, more specifically, between the Stradomka River and Krakowska and Ogrodowa streets, where the post-industrial buildings of the bankrupt "Elanex" spinning mill are located. It is there that the city plans to build a new soccer stadium and more. However, before the plans can be implemented, the Częstochowa local government must overcome several significant barriers.
investment with a burden
The complex left behind by the "Elanex" factory is one of the most important testimonies to the industrial history of Czestochowa. The spinning mill was established in 1899 as an investment of the French company "Motte, Meillassoux, Caulliez et Delaoutre." In the following years, the neo-Gothic complex designed by Edward Lilpop developed and grew, gaining more villas, annexes, halls and warehouses, and even a workers' housing estate. At its peak, in 1975, the factory employed 3098 people - at that time it was already operating under the modern name "Elanex."
The political transformation did not treat "Elanex" lightly, so in 2003 the company stopped production and went into liquidation. Since then, the post-factory buildings gradually fell into increasing disrepair. Some of them were noticed by conservation offices, which in 2018 entered several buildings in the registry and a couple of dozen others in the Communal Register of Historical Monuments. However, an investor who would undertake the purchase of the site burdened with a debt of 90 million zlotys was still missing.
The buildings of the Elanex factory in Częstochowa
Photo: Andrzej Otrębski © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Eventually, the area attracted the interest of Czestochowa itself, which had already planned the construction of a railroad viaduct, connecting Krakowska Street, where "Elanex" is located, with the western part of the city. At the same time, a study to help find a convenient location for the potential construction of a stadium for Rakow had just indicated the site of the former worsted yarn factory. So all that was left for the local government was to buy back the plot and find financing for the project.
twists and turns in Częstochowa
In recent months, however, the story of "Elanex" has scored several twists and turns. The first took place in the middle of last year. Although the city had been "sharpening its teeth" on the purchase of the post-factory buildings of "Elanex" for quite some time (which would have made a lot of sense, since the local government was the creditor of the debt of the decrepit company), the Silesian Provincial Monument Conservator in Katowice passed what seemed at the time to be a verdict on the plans to revitalize the site.
The buildings of the Elanex factory in Częstochowa
Photo: Andrzej Otrębski © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
On May 23, 2025, almost the entire area of the former "Elanex" spinning factory in Częstochowa was included in the register of monuments. Previously, the register included only individual buildings, primarily Art Nouveau villas, belonging to the factory's owners. However, the conservator's decision did not discourage the city, which decided not to give up its plans to acquire the valuable post-factory plots. What 's more, in early June 2025, the Częstochowa local government filed an appeal against the decision to enter it in the register of monuments, which has been under consideration by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for several months.
city buys factory
The next act of the story unfolded on December 16 - that's when the bailiff's auction of the bankrupt spinning factory grounds took place. The determined city purchased the 8-hectare site from the previous owner for 22.4 million zlotys, hoping to further revitalize it. Interestingly, the story could have turned out quite differently, as the auction also included Wladyslaw Grochowski, president of the Arche Group, which is involved in revitalizing historic, dilapidated buildings, most of which are being converted into exclusive hotels. The Arche Group already has several successful projects to its credit, including the revitalization of the Aircraft Factory in Mielno, the Żnin Sugar Factory and the Militia Sanatorium in Nałęczów. More projects are also on the way, such as the "Józefina" Glassworks in Szklarska Poreba and the Szancer Mill in Tarnow. In Czestochowa itself, Wladyslaw Grochowski's company has repurchased a hotel building, built in 2014 on the site of the "Oleńka" campground, but has not carried out any revitalization so far.
Photo: luzynaS © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Arche Group in Częstochowa?
As reported by the Elanex Group association, despite the fact that Wladyslaw Grochowski paid a deposit of 3 million zlotys, he chose not to fight the local government. In the end, the city triumphed, having long carried the intention to subject the site to revitalization and the construction of a modern soccer stadium for the RKS club. Still standing in the way, however, was the decision of the Silesian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, who six months earlier had placed the entire post-factory site on the register. As Lukasz Kot, Deputy Mayor of the City of Czestochowa, told Dziennik Polski in late December last year:
We recently received a letter that it is not yet known when our appeal will be evaluated. However, I am of good thoughts. Things have changed a bit, because once the city is the owner, we will knock harder on all the doors and explain that we want to revitalize the area. There are a few buildings there in the register of historic buildings and a few that are dilapidated and are not in the register. It can be done with a head - that's our idea. Of course, one element is the stadium, but services, business or housing are equally important.
Of course, not all circles agree with the direction taken by the city - the Elanex Group association, among others, is in favor of maintaining the registration.
Spinning Mill of the Future instead of Elanex
Although the date of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage's response is unknown, the Częstochowa local government is not idle, conducting work on ideas for developing the former Elanex site. At the end of January 2026, the concept for the "Spinning Mill of the Future" into which the post-factory complex would be transformed was made public. The core of the project is to remain the planned stadium that the city intends to build for Rakov.
Motte's Palace in Częstochowa, 1909.
Photo: luzynaS © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
The study, however, will cover a much larger area, hooking up the remaining areas of the Old Town as well. According to a resolution adopted by Częstochowa city councilors on January 22, 2026, the project called "Development of the area - the Spinning Mill of the Future" is to be implemented in the formula of public-private partnership. Similar projects have already been implemented by Sopot, where the center was revitalized under PPP and educational infrastructure was modernized, and Gdansk also has plans to use the same formula.
A stadium, but also apartments, services and offices
The Spinning Mill of the Future is to be a mixed-use project, combining functions of a commercial and public nature:
We will be looking for investors in order to jointly develop on the site of "Elanex" a complex with offices, services, stores, hotels, sports infrastructure, as well as a residential part. In the implementation of low-cost rental housing, we plan to take advantage of the national funds that the government is to allocate to support this type of investment in local governments.
- says Deputy Mayor Luke Kot.
The city has requested assistance from the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy to analyze the former "Elanex" site for revitalization and development under a public-private partnership formula. Although the answer has not yet arrived, and the analysis will probably have to wait, Czestochowa is taking the next steps - this time involving residents in the whole process.
The villa of the Elanex factory director
Photo: luzynaS © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
New Old Town
In the near future, Częstochowa will host an interdisciplinary workshop called "Stare Miasto OdNowa," which the local government intends to implement together with the Częstochowa University of Technology and the Repair the City Foundation. As part of the event, enrolled male and female participants between the ages of 18 and 35 will prototype the transformations that should take place within the Old City of Częstochowa. The work will be coordinated by a number of architects and specialists in other fields, including Maciej Żelasko, president of SARP Częstochowa Branch in 2012-2015, Przemo Łukasik, Oskar Grąbczewski, Tomasz Konior, Joanna Rayss, Marcin Domański, Agnieszka Majorek-Gdula and Filip Springer.
I am glad that the City has taken such actions to talk not about the immediate future, which is very important, but about how Czestochowa can and should look like in 30 or 40 years. It is important that it is the people who have a say in what this city should look like, so that everyone would want to live here and so that this city would simply be a model for others
- said Maciej Zelasko during the press conference.
Registration for the event is available at the Old Town OdNowa workshop website. Will they result in the first vision of the "Spinning Mill of the Future"?
