Finally!!! At last!! Yes, finally, after decades of neglect—no, deliberate decay by the owner of the building complex housing the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking conservatories of Brussels that will be restored—there's hope for an inspiring music institution. Klassiek Centraal was invited to an exclusive tour where we learned about the progress being made.
If construction, which begins in January 2026, proceeds as planned, the new academic year 2029-30 will launch in September 2029 in the heavily restored, renovated, modernized, and expanded complex of historically valuable and newly constructed buildings. You can be sure politicians will queue up to cut ribbons at the reopening and take credit for it. But seriously: the entire political establishment is responsible for letting these buildings fall into disrepair, for mismanagement and neglect that led to such catastrophic decay. It's shameful, plain and simple.
The neglect means construction costs will be astronomical and exceed budget estimates—consider inflation alone, rising material and labor costs, increasingly strict renovation and building codes, and the list goes on. On the other hand, despite the millions being spent (which is justified), the next generation of musicians to be trained will have a facility that will once again be a model for the entire world, just as it was when architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (Kampen, March 28, 1811 – Brussels, February 16, 1880) put the conservatory on the world map. It was the very first with its own full concert hall—which, by the way, will be perfectly restored and gleam in its original colors again—and that was revolutionary.
The path of suffering will, it seems, become a path of healing. No more a building that makes you depressed and kills your desire to make music, but a true home where you'll breathe, eat, and drink music.
No thanks to politics, all thanks to passionate art lovers
Shortly after launching our magazine Klassiek Centraal, we received a message from Conservamus, which was then as unknown as our new magazine: they had already organized playful student actions with free street concerts to protest the building decay. A petition was launched and, well, with our very young magazine we collected more than 2,000 signatures in no time. Even Ghent University took up the petition. It became a win-win for both Conservamus and Klassiek Centraal—an unexpected pleasant side effect for us, since who would have expected such quick success? We just wanted signatures.
Nearly 20 years later, Conservamus has come a long way. Thanks to sustained pressure from all directions, they managed to—despite persistent political unwillingness and even opposition—align all government interests in the same direction and secure funding. The political establishment had acted like irresponsible homeowners. Try doing that with your own house; you know how heavily you'd be penalized for neglect and vacancy.
The restoration project is grand but not grandiose
Perhaps some politicians got on board because they love grand, potentially grandiose projects. Anyone reviewing the plans realizes nothing was left to chance, everything is carefully considered, all necessities are addressed, and there's no overstepping. There's no megalomania at play, nothing grandiose no matter how vast some interventions may be. Beyond the required thorough external and internal restoration of the protected buildings, there's also significant new construction replacing the ugly structures from the 1960s-70s. It includes not only a new entrance hall with abundant light, but also what never existed before: a proper rehearsal space and a chamber concert hall, along with various new small and large studios. The library gets relocated, gardens are being created that will look quite different from the current chaotic, settling mess. There's so much more where teaching and learning, studying, rehearsing, performing, and experiencing music take center stage.
Yes, this is hopeful and refreshing. We look forward, together with everyone involved, to the day when the ribbons are cut—preferably not by politicians, but by those who never gave up to make this happen. People who work 'after hours' on the past, present, and future of excellent music education at the highest level in a suitable environment. The people who built Conservamus up, who kept at it every single day, who invested considerable time and money and attracted investors, who brought architects and construction companies on board, and so much more—all the people, institutions, and businesses they managed to win over, and amazingly, all the involved government bodies this country has, so that Europe's capital gets what it deserves: a full-fledged building complex where music lives, and where many generations of young people will hopefully feel called to train as the musicians of the future.
On the website 'Beliris' you'll find extensive information about the project.
