Restoration of Leuven city hall gets green light

The restoration of Leuven's city hall can finally begin, as the environmental permit has been approved, the city announced in a press release on Monday. The actual restoration work is scheduled to start in the summer of 2025.

One of the aims of the restoration is to make the building more accessible to the public. Administrative services moved there in 2009, and visitors can only see some parts of the building and only with a guide.

The renovation will take five years. The preparatory phase will begin at the end of this year with a series of technical works. The collections housed in the city hall will then be moved to depots or restoration workshops, and the actual restoration should begin next summer.

Past, present and future

All the rooms and halls in the buildings will be thoroughly renovated, including all the furniture, and the building will be made more sustainable. The façade overlooking the Grote Markt will be cleaned and the historic statues restored. The courtyard garden, the Vrijthof, will be redesigned and an antechamber will be built to the left of the city hall.

"After the thorough restoration, the city hall will become a place where the stories of Leuven play the leading role for a wide audience," said Leuven mayor Mohamed Ridouani. "It will once again be the place to discover Leuven's past, present and future."

The renovated building will open in 2029.

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