The Brussels Government has postponed its decision on whether or not to classify the iconic Palais de Midi – the central point of numerous issues for the construction of Metro 3 – as heritage on Thursday.
The regional government was supposed to formally decide on the classification of the flagship building wedged between Brussels-Midi station and Stalingrad-Lemonnier on Thursday, but no decision was made during the Council of Ministers.
"The decision has been postponed. Additional consultations have been requested," a spokesperson for Brussels State Secretary for Heritage and Urbanism Ans Persoons told The Brussels Times.
The Palais du Midi's 165 metres-long facade in the south of Brussels city centre was opened in 1880 as a covered market and now houses schools, shops and sports infrastructures. Now, however, the area has turned into a construction site for Metro 3, which will connect Evere in the north of Brussels with Forest in the south once it is done.
Complicated construction works
Following a series of technical problems, the Region decided the building's interior must be dismantled, leaving only its facades, to ensure the metro station Toots Thielemans can be connected to the Anneessens station.
Almost as soon as the works began, Palais du Midi found itself in the middle of the construction of Metro 3, for which a 120-metre-long tunnel needs to be dug underneath the building. However, as the spongy underground conditions are not ideal, substantial improvements are needed. Meanwhile, the costs for the project continue to mount.
The works around Midi were halted for about two years, with ongoing construction works displacing local businesses. Now, the roof of the iconic Palais du Midi must be partially dismantled – much to the anger of various civil organisations.
In the meantime, however, the project reached a symbolic milestone: a first opening was made in the wall between the existing tunnel and the new tunnel under Boulevard Jamar at the end of March – a first step to connecting the new infrastructure with the existing pre-metro station.
First opening in the wall between the tunnels. Credit: STIB
The complete classification – both the exterior and the interior of the building – of the Palais du Midi was a request from residents of the Stalingrad district, supported by heritage defence associations such as ARAU (Atelier de Recherche et d'action Urbaines).
In July 2023, at the time of the official submission of the classification request, ARAU called the Palais du Midi "an emblematic monument, not only on the scale of the district, but also of the Pentagon/Vijfhoek and the Region."
"Safeguarding the Palais du Midi in its entirety means recognising the historical and present value of a living monument, and of both tangible and intangible heritage," they added.
Among most threatened in Europe
At the start of 2024, the Palais du Midi was included among the 11 most threatened sites and monuments in Europe – a list established by Europa Nostra, a pan-European federation for safeguarding and protecting cultural and natural heritage.
On 8 June 2023, the Brussels Regional Government decided to demolish the interior of the Palais du Midi to continue the construction of Metro 3.
"This demolition, however, would mean the destruction of the urban and social fabric of an entire neighbourhood, which would be deprived of a large part of its commercial, educational and sporting activities," stressed ARAU. "Since this announcement, locals and traders are confronted with a political desire to make the tangible and intangible heritage that constitutes the Palais du Midi invisible and marginalised."
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"This heritage negationism attempts to obscure the architectural value of the interiors of the building, by deliberately omitting to refer to it, while refusing to recognise that the strength of the place lies in the multiplicity of uses and activities hosted within it," they added.
In February, Inter-Environnement Brussels (IEB) and ARAU also filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, aiming to have the order to fast-track the demolition of the Palais du Midi – necessary to dig the tunnel for Metro 3, according to public transport company STIB and the Regional Government – annulled.
