Haaltert (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Haaltert’s old train station, bought for €160,000 in 2021, now has an estimated value of €50,000 with €1 million in needed repairs, says alderman Nathalie Meganck.
As VRT News reported, the Haaltert, a municipality in the province of East Flanders, train station is no longer in use, they want to sell the building. People waiting for trains now use a simple shelter and a ticket machine.
The old station building is still there, but it is in bad condition. Nathalie Meganck, who is the alderman for buildings and part of the Samen Haaltert group, says that fixing up the station could cost the town as much as a million euros.
Will Haaltert sell its old station building despite high repair costs?
The local government feels that spending that much money is just not possible. They mentioned that at first, there were hopeful ideas to give the old station a new purpose and bring it back to life for the community. But now, those dreams have become a heavy cost that the town feels it cannot carry.
Because of this, the plans to restore the building have stopped, and no one knows what will happen to the old station. In the meantime, travellers still only have a small awning and a ticket machine to use at the station.
The sale of the Haaltert station building is now on the agenda of the city council tonight. The city bought the building in 2021, but since then, the old station has kept getting worse. Because of this, the value of the building has dropped a lot, going from €160,000 to only €50,000 today.
Whoever buys the building will have to fix it up. Since it is a protected monument, that means the repairs will cost a lot and will have to follow many strict rules. The new owner will not only buy the building but will also take on all the expensive work that comes with restoring it.
The Haaltert station might be sold if the city council agrees. It will be sold through an online auction on Biddit. This is a popular site for property auctions in Belgium. It’s unclear if the auction will earn more than €50,000.
Officials mentioned that the high cost of repairs could keep the price down. The building currently has scaffolding around it. This is for urgent repairs, including work on the gutters. The city had to do these repairs. They received an 80% subsidy to cover most of the costs.
The city of Haaltert bought the building in 2021. They paid around €160,000 for it. The city had ideas about using it for the community. They thought it could be a meeting place. However, those plans did not happen. The building remained empty. The city lost interest in fixing it up. It would have been difficult and expensive to renovate.
