The monumental Palace of Justice, a Brussels landmark covered in scaffolding for 40 years, has become more of a symbol of Belgian maladministration than the rule of law.
That might soon finally change after authorities launched a renewed push to finish long-delayed renovation works at the courthouse.
“We are fulfilling our responsibility to a heritage that belongs to all Belgians”, Mathieu Michel, Belgium’s state secretary in charge of buildings and administrative simplification, said during a press tour of the site on Thursday.
The first scaffolds are to be taken down by the end of this year, and Michel promised that a metal cage wrapping the building will be gone by 2030, calling the delay “totally unacceptable”.
– Trapped –
The scaffolds around what is one of the largest courthouses in the world first went up in 1984.
Designed by Belgian architect Joseph Poelaert in the 1860s — when Belgium was a major colonial power — the neo-classical building is larger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, covering a surface of 26,000 square meters (6.4 acres).
Topped by a copper dome, it is all the more visible on the Brussels skyline as it sits on one of the capital’s hills, with a majestic front facade adorned with sculptures and mouldings.
But it has been shaded by the metal tubing for so long that exactly why the works stalled has become unclear.
The original contractor is said to have gone bankrupt, and the project then became trapped inside Belgium’s byzantine administrative system.
It was subjected to an incessant back and forth between the various levels of government — city, region, state — as well as bickering between the Flemish and French-speaking communities.
– Energy and money –
Jean-Pierre Buyle, a lawyer who set up a foundation in 2011 with the sole aim of getting the works finished, said the Palais also suffered from concerns about costs and a broader sense that the judiciary branch is not a priority.
“Here, when a ceiling collapses because of damp… they close the door and wait two or three years,” Buyle said.
But when the same happens in parliament or at the Royal Palace workers are on site on the same day, he said.
In 2023, the federal government, which owns the building, and the Brussels region, which has jurisdiction over the city’s listed monuments, jointly announced that planning permission had been granted to restart operations.
The first phase of the works, costing 32 million euros ($34.5 million) involves checking and cleaning decorative elements on the facade and when necessary replacing some of the building’s stones.
The aim is to finish all the exteriors by 2030, when Belgium marks its bicentenary.
But plans to redo the interior might have to wait at least another decade, as that will take “a lot of money, a lot of energy and a lot of determination”, Buyle said.
mad/ub/ec/js
