Lhe Royal Commission on Monuments and Sites has submitted a request for classification of the “La Maturité” square to the Brussels Region, reports RTBF.
The site, located at the intersection of rue au Bois, Ravenstein, Montagne du Parc and des Douze Apôtres, has been stuck for months between various works (construction of the headquarters of the BNP Paribas Fortis bank, renovation of the Gare Centrale metro station, etc.). The Monuments Commission says the state of the site is “alarming”.
“The work (of the metro, editor’s note) caused the dismantling of a large part of the balustrade. The flowerbeds and lawns have been razed and what remains of the plantings have no longer been maintained. The upper part, which includes the sculpted group, is invaded by spontaneous plantations, containers, construction machinery, vehicles, construction huts, etc. The work of art is almost no longer visible (the sculpture by Victor Rousseau, Editor’s note). Its conservation conditions, combined with its fouling due to atmospheric pollution (the marble has lost its whiteness and in places, the pollution deposits prevent the details of the characters from being legible) and acts of vandalism are unacceptable,” deplores the Commission. .
An urban planning project, “the Côteaux du Pentagone”, was put on hold due to the classification request. This should arrive on the table of the Brussels government (outgoing or future) within two months.
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