Buildings’ Agency issued with formal notice to renovate the Chinese Pavilion and the Japanese Tower in Brussels

Renovation work should have been completed three years ago. However, work to renovate the buildings has been postponed several times.

On Friday, the Brussels regional Secretary of State responsible for planning and heritage Ans Persoons (Flemish socialist) called on the Federal Secretary of State whose responsibilities include the Federal Buildings’ Agency Mathieu Michel (Francophone liberal) to take responsibility and ensure that the renovation work is started “a matter of urgency". Ms Persoons added that the renovation and embellishment "these heritage treasures" should be one of the priorities of the next federal government. 

The Japanese Tower has stood in Laken, a district in the north of Brussels, since 1905. It is currently closed for safety reason. As the building rests on a concrete slab that is only 6 cm thick there are stability issues that made it too dangerous for the tower to remain open to the public. Despite the stability issues the Buildings’ Agency says that there is no risk of the tower collapsing.

The Chinese Pavilion is located nearby and is also closed for safety reasons. The Chinese Pavilion has been empty for 11 years. Although originally designed as a luxury restaurant, it has never welcomed diners. The pavilion opened to the public in October 1913 as a permanent exhibition of products that had been imported from the Far East.

In a reaction to the issuing of the formal Mr Michel's office said it was "surprised" by Ms Persoons' methods that it described as "pre-electoral  marketing". "There are regular exchanges between the Brussels-Capital Region and the Federal Buildings’ Agency concerning the conservation and renovation of these two buildings. Just last week, a meeting was held on the subject".