As the interior of the Palais du Midi building will be dismantled as part of the Metro 3 Line project, transport company STIB organised an information meeting regarding the next steps.
When it is ready, Metro 3 will connect Evere in the north of Brussels with southern Forest, but the construction quickly ran into complications: the future Toots Thielemans station on Avenue Stalingrad must be connected to the pre-metro on Avenue Lemonnier by a 120-metre tunnel under the Palais du Midi but the works have been halted for about two years due to issues with the soil.
In June, Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort announced that the Palais du Midi would be completely dismantled, so large machines could be used to dig the tunnel for the new metro tunnel from the inside while the facades could be retained – calling it "the cheapest, fastest and safest option" to resume the works.
A number of studies about the plan's impact on mobility, heritage, soil and the economy, among others, are ongoing. These are planned to last until March, after which a public survey will follow (giving people 30 days to voice their opinion on the plans), STIB explained on Tuesday.
Everything is connected
Around the end of 2024, the Brussels authorities then have to decide on the permit. If the permit gets the go-ahead, the plan is to start demolition "in the second half of 2025," Laurent Borsellini, who is in charge of the project within STIB, told Bruzz.
The Palais du Midi in Brussels is currently under discussion in the project of the new metro line 3. Credit: Belga/Timon Ramboer
The work will then proceed in two phases. First, for 11 months, the inner sides of the Palais du Midi along the sides of Avenue Stalingrad, Rue Roger van der Weyden and Avenue Lemonnier will be demolished. All four facades along the outside will remain standing.
After that, the tunnel under the site will be built diagonally, which is expected to take 37 months (over three years). In a final phase of another 10 months, the building's side along Rue de la Fontaine will be taken care of.
"If all goes well, this will be followed by the reconstruction of the inside, which normally the City of Brussels will take care of. Although that depends on their permit and budget," Borsellini said. "It is a shame that everything in the Metro 3 project is connected to each other."
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Meanwhile, the works for the new Toots Thielemans station under Avenue Stalingrad and the accompanying tunnel under Avenue Jamar are about 40% complete and should be finished within a year. "So we only have to wait until the tunnel under the Palais du Midi is fully ready before the line can be put into operation."
Borsellini stressed that all indications put forward by STIB are only preliminary estimates. "This is the normal procedure, but it is all difficult to say and there is not even a permit yet. My job is 100% planning and 99% of it ends up in the dustbin. Still, I have high hopes for this project."
