Hoegaarden (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The authorities of the Belgian municipality of Hoegaarden can start to dismantle the burnt-down sports hall in the middle of next month. The sports hall was completely burned down in June last year.
The Mayor of the City of Hoegaarden said that the demolition of the sports hall that was burned down in the middle of June 2024 will commence in March 2025. Some investigations by the insurance companies prolonged the starting point of the demolition to November 2024.
Looking at what Mayor Joris Verbanten CD&V said, this is a positive step in the effort to reconstruct the sports hall. Although a provisional type of hall for sports has been constructed in the form of a tent, plans to build a more permanent structure are being made.
“That is not too soon,”
Says mayor Joris Verbaeten (CD&V).
“It is important that we can take a first step in the reconstruction of the sports hall.”
The fire was a drama for the association life in Hoegaarden.
“Our sports hall was so embedded in the life of the Hoegaarden residents.”
The city council set up a sports hall tent as a temporary alternative.
“That was a good interim solution, but a new sports hall really needs to be built. It will be built on the current site, but that can only happen when the ruins have been demolished. Until we had a view of that, it was difficult to make concrete future plans for a new hall,”
Says Verbaeten.
That perspective is now there.
“The judicial investigation was only completed at the end of November. This also caused delays for the insurers, who could only start their own investigation afterwards. We hope that the last insurer can quickly provide its expertise so that we can start the demolition in mid-March,”
Verbaeten concludes.
What is the history of Hoegaarden’s sports hall?
The sports hall in Hoegaarden is of paramount importance to the community since it used to be the venue of many events related to sports as well as social events in the community, but it was burnt down in June 2023. The hall, earlier used to organise sports and other programmes for the residents of the community. It destroyed a large part of organically grown societies and the members of the town who used the facility.
The building’s structure was left burned and charred for almost a year due to an investigation by various insurance companies that was completed in November 2023. Until recently, an interim accommodation in the form of a sports hall tent has been used, but the municipality has resettlement requirements for a permanent centre.
