The façades of the Army Museum and Autoworld in Brussels' Parc du Cinquantenaire will be restored, with works aimed to be finalised before 2030, Belgium's 200th anniversary, as the park will be the centre of celebrations.
The site, which is a popular meeting place for Brussels residents and tourists, is home to three museums, including the Art and History Museum, War Heritage Institute (Army Museum) and Autoworld museum. The buildings housing the latter two will receive a thorough renovation between 2023 and 2026 to restore their façades and make them more energy-efficient.
The renovations are part of a larger plan titled "Cinquantenaire Bicentenaire (50/200)," referring to the fact that the site was originally designed to celebrate Belgium's 50th anniversary and that it will be the most important location for the celebrations in light of the country's 200th anniversary, which will see the park receive the upgrade it "necessarily needs."
"With the next phase in the renovation of the roofs, facades and windows of the museums on the iconic Cinquantenaire site, we are another step closer to the site's complete revaluation in view of Belgium's 200th birthday in 2030," said Thomas Dermine, Secretary of State for Relance and Strategic Investments.
View of the museums ahead of the renovation works on the roofs of the three museums starting. Credit: Belga/ Dirk Waem
This project follows the major renovation project of all three museums' roofs in Cinquantenaire Park, which was started in 2018 and is now in its final phase.
"This site is thus further transforming from a place where collections are displayed to a museum park of the 21st century," he added. The renovations are also a small part of the region's strategic approach to increase Brussels' attractiveness as an international host city, going all out to cement its position as the capital of the European Union.
Four phases
The restoration works, of which the total cost is estimated at €27.7 million, will be carried out in four overlapping phases so that "when the execution of one phase is in progress, the preparation for the other phase starts," according to a statement from Mathieu Michel, Secretary of State for Digitalisation in charge of Control of Buildings.
In the first phase, the façades of the Aviation Hall of the Army Museum will be restored in the next two years. The hall will also be fitted with vacuum-insulating glazing and insulation as well as thermally insulating restoration glass and a new insulated metal sliding gate. Michel stressed that insulating the façades themselves is not feasible because the Cinquantenaire site is listed as heritage.
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This will be followed by a second phase, focussing on the restoration of all the façades of Autoworld, including the esplanade façade. In the third phase, the most extensive, the Bordiau Hall and front and interior façades of the Army Museum will take place (between 2025 and 2026).
In the final phase, the park's most prevalent attractions — the Triumphal Arch and the semi-circular open exterior gallery (hemicycle) — will be tackled, during which the bronze statues at the Triumphal Arch will also be cleaned.
