“This wonderful neoclassical ballroom, whose ceiling fresco, painted by the Belgian artist Henri Depre, represents the gods of Olympus, was built at the end of the 18th century to house a luxurious casino”, Robroek starts the text corresponding to a building L-shaped rising up Belgium and that, in the thirties of the 20th century, it was classified as a historic building. Its interior became, successively, a military hospital, a school, an orphanage and a museum. “Now, in a state of abandonment, it is going to end up in ruins,” he lamented. One of its wings will even have to be demolished. In 1993, a citizen initiative managed to inscribe it on an international list of endangered heritage, according to the photographer. A large part of the façade has been restored, but the interior is still pending renovations.
