An urban beach will arrive on the slopes of the Palais de Justice in Brussels today as part of a broad push to bring activities to the Marolles neighbourhood.
Organised in partnership with the City of Brussels to revitalise the slopes after years of being used as an illegal car park, the urban beach will join a climbing frame, graffiti mural, recycled furniture and bar - all made possible after the zone was declared car-free earlier this year.
Renamed ‘Skieve Parck’, €50,000 has been allocated to create projects in the new area and to give space back to the Marolles residents. This push includes the beach, set up by youths from the Le Foyer des Jeunes des Marolles youth centre.
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The beach, which was also installed during last year's summer period (albeit in a different part of the Marolles neighbourhood) has not been designed as “some big fancy event,” but something much more local, Ans Persoons, Brussels Alderman for Urbanism, previously told The Brussels Times.
“The intention is to highlight the slopes as a public area, and this is a first step towards the activation of that very large space,” Persoons said, stressing that these projects are initiated by locals rather than professional organisations.
The beach - which is expected to be finished by Friday evening and will open alongside a bar - will be open from Wednesdays to Fridays between 11:00 AM and 9:00 PM.
The projects were selected by a jury composed of members of the Government Buildings Agency and the Federal Public Justice Service, the coordinator of the Marolles’ neighbourhood contract, and a member of the neighbourhood committee. For more information, see here.
