Maasmechelen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Work on Maasmechelen’s town hall and a nearby 50-year-old office starts tomorrow, Aug 5, 2025, costing €10.5 million. Mayor Raf Terwingen aims to modernise with a climate-friendly Borehole Energy Storage system. Completion by 2027.
As VRT News reported, work on the town hall in Maasmechelen, a municipality in the province of Limburg, Belgium, will start tomorrow, Aug 5, 2025. The building and the nearby office centre will be fully renewed. That office centre is over 50 years old. Mayor Raf Terwingen says the goal is to update everything and make it better for the climate.
The cost of the project is €10.5 million. The rooms inside will be changed to work better. Counters and offices will move to better spots. The outside of the building will also be fixed. The old look of the town hall will stay. But the whole place will feel new and modern.
How will Maasmechelen’s town hall upgrade with Borehole energy storage impact services?
A special energy system will be placed in front of the town hall in Maasmechelen. It is called a Borehole Energy Storage field, or BEO field. This system works underground and uses heat and cold from deep in the earth. In winter, it gives warm air. In summer, it keeps the building cool. The system stores heat and cold like a battery.
According to officials, while the town hall in Maasmechelen is being fixed, some services might move to other floors inside the same building. Part of the square in front of the building will be used for the work. Because of this, half of the parking spots there will be taken away for now. The changes are planned to keep everything running while the building gets a full update.
Mayor Raf Terwingen says the work on the town hall in Maasmechelen should be finished by 2027. After that, the city will start fixing the police station at Dokter Haubenlaan 2. That building will also get a full upgrade. The work there will begin in 2028. Police services will not be disturbed by these plans. They are already set to move to a new police station on Pauwengraaf in 2026.
In the past, several Belgian towns have carried out similar large-scale renovations of their town halls and public buildings to improve energy efficiency and modernise facilities. In Leuven, the historic town hall underwent a major restoration that balanced preserving its heritage with upgrading its infrastructure for modern use.
In Antwerp, some municipal buildings were renovated to include sustainable energy solutions like solar panels and geothermal heating, similar to Maasmechelen’s new Borehole Energy Storage system.
