The Boussu sports hall, burnt down, will perhaps be rebuilt: “It would be a shame to lose this place”

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To this, the Minister in question declared that the prospects for rehabilitation of the site would lead to a reconstruction of the Omnisports Hall, which is corroborated by the outgoing sports alderman, Eric Bellet, at the local level. “The insurance companies are doing their job. Personally, I must have contact with an Infrasports manager to see what the prospects would be for the renovation, or even the reconstruction of the site. It would seem that it would be better to rebuild”he told us, full of hope about the attention given to this problem. “It would be a shame to lose this place.”

And added: “This room was no longer young. It had quite a few defections. I think that something new would allow us to envisage a concrete and rational sporting future in the direction that the new mandate wishes to carry.”

The need for public financing

Whether there is reconstruction or not, the launch of the work will depend on the funds to be invested and the possibility of obtaining a subsidy. A path was formulated by Walloon Minister Jacqueline Galant, without it committing the Walloon region at this stage.

“The planned renovation and/or reconstruction work could be eligible for subsidies with regard to the requirements of the decree of December 3, 2020 governing subsidies for sports infrastructure. Given the situation, the Municipality of Boussu could, during the submission of its application for a grant, request an exemption from article 15 of the aforementioned decree”, she suggested, following the oral question from the Mons reformer.

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And to specify: “This exemption would thus allow the municipality to launch public procurement procedures and start work before notification of a firm subsidy promise. I would like to point out that this exemption aims to preserve the right to the subsidy, but in no way constitutes a firm commitment to intervention from the Region.”

In the meantime, sports clubs continue to occupy two neighboring sports infrastructures, after having been quickly relocated following the fire. Based on the lack of feedback to the sports alderman, cohabitation seems to be going well. All of this, however, involved modifying the days and times of training, in order to obtain free spaces, on one side or the other.