Listed windmill in Belair is probably demolished
Only a few meters separate the windmill from the giant construction site of the Center Hospitalier de Luxembourg (Chl). The hospital at the D’Arlon route receives a new, 800 million euro main building. In 2028 it should be ready, the work for this is in full swing.
It is precisely this work that was to be doomed by the windmill, which was listed over 20 years ago. Because for the new entrance for ambulances on the CHL, the listed building probably has to give way, i.e. torn down. MP Djuna Bernard (Déi Gréng) therefore inquired in a parliamentary question from the responsible ministers Eric Thill (Kultur/DP) and Martine Deprez (Health/CSV).
Minister give mistakes
In their joint answer, Thill and Deprez state that the problem of maintaining the Windmühle has been a topic since the beginning of the planning of the new CHL in 2014. There does not seem to have been a real interest in the monument at the time – the plans did not provide for the preservation of the windmill.
This will look like the new main building Chl. Photo: 4Bund Planungsgemeinschaft
Now it seems too late to save them. « In view of the advanced stage of the construction work, the affected ministries are in exchange in order to sketch which paths are still possible to reconcile two important public interests, namely public health and the cultural heritage, », say Deprez and Thill. So the chances of preserving the windmill are bad.
For 820 million euros: Chl gets new main building
Last October, the Mouvement Patrimonial warned exactly. « The construction site of the CHL is now relatively close to the windmill, » wrote the organization on Facebook: « We only have two existing windmills in Luxembourg. Accordingly, it is a unique and worthy building. We hope that it will continue to be protected and no one comes up with the idea of lifting this protection. »
The two ministers admit mistakes in the planning, even if they still happened under the previous triple coalition. Regardless of the future fate of the windmill, this case should not serve as a model for monument protection, Deprez and Thill say. « Two ministries immediately admit that the Mouvement Patrimonial concludes incorrectly, » Patrimonial concludes.
