This time for sure, the music will no longer vibrate the walls of the Stamp (nor of the neighbors), on the chaussée de Bruxelles, in the center of Waterloo. The doors closed definitively on Saturday July 1st. The police even barricaded the entrance with Nadar barriers and tape.
With its 14 years of existence, the famous Waterloo bar will leave behind, a series of memories and anecdotes, whether good or bad. It will have held firm, in the face of pressure from local residents and some elected officials who fought for many years to bury this essential place of the Brabant festival. If you were hoping to pay him a last tribute, it may be complicated, the town and the police have decided to seal the place.
Nadar barriers and police banners
“We knew it was the end”comments Jérôme Blanchart “but we were hoping for a delay for the summer”. “We had an agreement in principle and a tacit renewal had been negotiated so that we could continue to operate the place as long as no buyer was confirmed. We were informed almost overnight of the municipality’s decision to permanently close the premises.”
Indeed, the atmosphere was not festive in front of the premises of the Stamp on Saturday evening. Nadar barriers and blue and white streamers had replaced the bouncers and the long line at the start of the evening. But why this device?
According to Superintendent Van Der Smissen of Waterloo Police, “There is a police order regarding the closure of the establishment, so we have sealed the entrance to ensure that the message is clear and that the order is respected”. “There was no judicial fact”he reassures, answering the questions of why access to the site was closed as on a crime scene.
“It should have already been closed 6 months ago”
“The Stamp should have already been closed six months ago”, recalls the mayor of Waterloo Florence Reuter (MR). “The tacit renewal concerned the period from January to June, there was never any question of staying until September.” Therefore, a call for interest had been made by the municipality in order to find a buyer. “We signed an agreement in which it was clearly specified – that if there was a buyer in March for example, the premises should have been emptied in March.” The call for interest has not, at present, found its rare pearl. “In any case, the agreement ended on June 30. We simply applied the law.”
“It’s a page that is definitely turning”, regrets Jérôme Blanchart. “Le Stamp is permanently closed and will not reopen elsewhere. However, we have other openings planned for the Art Blanc group in the coming weeks”.