Vlaams Huis van de Voeding vzw LAP Old Brewery Rodenbach

Actionplan towards a durable reorientation of the Old Brewery building of Rodenbach in the city of Roeselare.

Liederik Cordonni 19-5-2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...... 2 Situation ...... 3 The Surroundings ...... 3 The building ...... 3 Cost calculation ...... 4 Industrial heritage and level of protection ...... 4 Pathway of the Wood Footprint Project - Roeselare ...... 5 Meeting - Westtoer / Quickscan analysis Westtoer ...... 5 Meeting - Site manager Rodenbach brewery ...... 5 Meeting - architect ...... 5 Meeting - Cultural Heritage Department ...... 5 Communication campaign ‘Rondje Rood-Bruin’ ...... 6 Local support group meetings ...... 6 Meeting – owner Palm Breweries ...... 7 Meeting – City of Roeselare ...... 7 Meeting – Province West-Flanders ...... 7 Summit meeting – Brewery owner, City of Roeselare, Province West-Flanders ...... 7 Investigation of ‘depot for heritage items’ ...... 8 Conclusions ...... 9 Action Plan ...... 10 Expansion of the existing Masterplan for the brewery ...... 10 Stakeholder management ...... 10 Preparation of an URBACT-III project to elaborate a new Masterplan ...... 10 Extra results ...... 11 Addenda ...... 12 SWOT-analysis...... 12 Composition of the Local Support Group/ Board of Directors VHvdV vzw ...... 12 Cost calculation ...... 12 Research ‘depot for heritage items’(in Dutch) ...... 14

1 INTRODUCTION Roeselare is a city of almost 60.000 inhabitants situated in the heart of the Province of West- Flanders. The city is known as a city of shopping, of cycling, of food and of Rodenbach. These last two connotations are directly related with the subject of this Local Actionplan.

That Roeselare is known as ‘the city of Rodenbach’ originally refers to , an ancient inhabitant of the city, who was a very famous writer and poet. Nowadays most people associate Rodenbach with the beer and the brewery which was raised in 1821 by Alexander Rodenbach (who was actually an uncle of Albrecht).

Although the brewery was taken over by Palm Breweries in 1998, and therefore no longer owned by people of Roeselare, the brewery and the beer are still inextricably linked with the city of Roeselare. The typical red-brown beer is the result of a brewing process which is unique in the world. Young beer is mixed with older beer which has aged for several years in oaken casks. This way of brewing only exists in some breweries in the southern part of West-Flanders. Together with the breweries De Brabandere, Vanderghinste and Verhaeghe Rodenbach applied for a registered designation of origin of the red-brown beer.

When Rodenbach was taken over by Palm Breweries, this led to new investments and a brand new modern brewery was installed in 2002 right next to the old brewery. After the commissioning of the new brewery, the old brewery was put out of order and has been empty ever after. Due to its historic importance the building, its content and its surroundings were listed as a protected heritage site by the government on 15th October 2013. This involves high restrictions of the reconstruction options of the building but also opens opportunities regarding possible subsidies.

In meanwhile the Old Brewery has been empty for over 12 years without any specific reallocation plan. The owner (Palm Breweries) does the necessary maintenance and repairing works to keep the building safe, but nothing more. Thanks to the Wood Footprint-project we finally seek for new opportunities and focused measures for the historic building. Originally the city of Roeselare was the project partner, but due to internal reorganization within the city and practical choices, Vlaams Huis van de Voeding vzw which is situated adjacent to the Old Brewery took over the project.

2 SITUATION1

THE SURROUNDINGS The Old Brewery is situated in the middle of the existing and operating brewery. At the western side there is the visitor center ‘Ter Eeste’ with a foeder room, containing 300 oaken barrels. At the north side you can find the old ast and malthouse. The new brewery is situated at the eastern side of the Old Brewery building.

Opposite of the Old Brewery the ‘Chateau Rodenbach-Mergaert’ is located, the former headmaster’s home, which is surrounded by a garden in which the water source of the brewery is situated. As the Old Brewery, this castle and its gardens are also protected, and all are considered as one historic site.

Adjacent to the new brewery, you can find the ‘Old bottling plant’ of Rodenbach which was put out of use after the acquisition by Palm Breweries. In 2010 this empty building became property of the Province of West-Flanders which installed the Flanders’ House of Food in it several years later. In the Flanders’ House of Food one can find the Urban Business Centre of Roeselare, a training center for the food industry and an experience center on the food industry.

The area in which the Old Brewery is located is ‘Krottegem’, traditionally known as a run-down neighborhood with a strongly industrialized character and roots in the textile industry. Also the ‘Kop van de Vaart’, the location at the end of the canal Roeselare-Leie, nearby the brewery is defined by the many food related industrial companies.

THE BUILDING The Old Brewery building consists of four floors and a basement. A detailed overview of the different floors and the available surfaces, as well as some possible structural adaptations, was made by the architectural firm Koplamp.

The building faces some difficulties which have to be taken into consideration. As the building was a production site, over years several parts of the building were reallocated, added or adapted. As a result the building has no logic and safe circulation course. To improve the accessibility of the building the architect firm suggests to add a circulation core in glass at the west end side which connects all floors and spaces in a safe and logical way.

An additional problem is the equipment which is located in the building. The many brewing kettles, boilers and machinery are indeed also protected as they contain historic and touristic value and thus have to stay into the building. As a consequence this monopolizes the useful floor space of the building.

Also the physical building capacity and the indoor climate of the property are not in line with the contemporary requirements and thus need to be addressed. A possible solution to these problems lies in the installation of a box-in-a-box with adapted climate conditions.

1 Based on Quick Scan Analysis of March 2013 by Westtoer.

3 COST CALCULATION In the context of the WFP-project Koplamp Architects made an estimate of the renovation costs of the property. The total restoration cost was estimated just on top 5 million EURO, net of VAT and general works. In total a budget of 6.8 million EURO (including VAT) is required to renovate the complete building, adding an extra volume for better circulation.

The cost breakdown:

- Restoration of the building: 2.816.500 € - Restoration of the equipment: 301.300 € - Reallocation: 1.112.500 € - Extra volume: 358.750 € - New circulation core: 429.000 €

This cost breakdown is important, given the possible subsidies from the heritage department which are only applicable to restoration works and not reallocation works or new volumes.

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AND LEVEL OF PROTECTION The Old Brewery as well as the surrounding buildings were protected as industrial heritage by Ministerial Decree on October 15th 2003. The protection implies the property and the cultural goods which form an integral part of the building as there are: the equipment, the decorative elements and the chimney.2 The reason why the site is protected is because of the historic value of the material witnesses which tell the evolution of breweries since 1864.

The general regulations for preservation and maintenance are implied. This involves that grants can be awarded for renovation works. The amount of subsidies can vary according to the type of works. For preliminary studies a subsidy of 80% is applied. For restoration works private organizations can get a subsidy of 40% while public beneficiaries are entitled to 80%. As the owner of the building is a private company, Palm Breweries, a leasehold system with a public actor was explored.

2 Ministerial Decree of the of 15th of October 2003.

4 PATHWAY OF THE WOOD FOOTPRINT PROJECT - ROESELARE

During the project period Flanders’ House of Food and its partners have intensively looked for a new durable reorientation of the Old Brewery building. What follows in this chapter is an overview of the steps taken to achieve this goal.

MEETING - WESTTOER / QUICKSCAN ANALYSIS WESTTOER Although the original project partner was the city of Roeselare, the Flanders’ House of Food vzw took over the project in the summer of 2013. Some meetings were arranged with Westtoer which had made a Quickscan Analysis of the Old Brewery earlier in 2013. This study formed the basis for the local WFP-project. The building was considered as of high historic and touristic value, but it was unclear if the renovation and exploitation of this site was feasible. The main idea was to create a visitor center on red-brown beers.

MEETING - SITE MANAGER RODENBACH BREWERY A meeting with the site manager of the brewery confirmed their interest to install a visitor’s center on red-brown beers on the site. The brewery however doesn’t want to be responsible for the exploitation of the visitors center, nor should the center intervene with the activities of the brewery. Some minor adaptations were suggested to reduce the nuisance.

The brewery indicated that the Old Brewery building is to date out of use and that any repurposing would be welcome. Therefore other options, outside a touristic visitors center, are open for discussion. In the end although, a formal agreement of the brewery is necessary, as they are the owner of the building.

The site manager also referred to the study of Koplamp Architects, which was made on behalf of the brewery. As a result, a new meeting with the architect was settled.

MEETING - ARCHITECT The architect explained the different options and capacities of the building, as well as the main constraints (as mentioned earlier). The amount of available square meters is significant, but the many protected elements and the atypical structuring of the rooms are hindering a practical allocation. A thorough renovation and adaptation of the circulation path is therefore essential, but very expensive.

Therefore, on behalf of the Flanders House of Food and the Wood Footprint project, Koplamp Architects made a more detailed estimate of the costs. This was essential to the project to be able to better analyze the different paths. On request of the Flanders House of Food, the bureau also proposed a phased action plan.

MEETING - CULTURAL HERITAGE DEPARTMENT FLANDERS As the property is a protected site, a meeting was set into place with a heritage advisor of the Flemish government. After this meeting and site visit, it was clear that an urgent procedure to get the subsidies faster was not possible. A new procedure was put into place in the beginning of 2015. The advisor confirmed that the proposal of the architect to eliminate some parts of the equipment was feasible, but still needed formal confirmation by the department.

5 COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN ‘RONDJE ROOD-BRUIN’ To promote the Wood Footprint project and the search for a durable repurposing of the Old Brewery site to the wide public, we cooperated to the touristic event ‘Rondje Rood-Bruin’ which is organized by Toerisme Leiestreek and Westtoer, the regional and provincial tourism organization. This biannual event promotes some important touristic attractions in the south of West-Flanders, notably some local breweries which brew red-brown beers. The touristic event, as well as the fact that the Old Brewery building would be exceptionally open for visitors, was widely announced in different media, such as (biggest radio-station of Flanders), één (main national public TV station), an event-website, printed media, …

During the event, the Old Brewery was exceptionally open for visits, but only via a guided tour. The tour guides explained the more than 1000 visitors about the Wood Footprint project and its goals. At the end of the tour the visitors were invited to inspire us with their ideas for a future purpose of the building.

This public activity, including the public survey, was considered as a very interesting pilot action by the city and the region. Such way of participatory policy-making by involving the people is very rare in the region.

LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS As the composition of the board of directors of the Flemish House of Food -with representatives of the city of Roeselare, the region, the province and the food and agri-industry- was very convenient for this project, this board was designated as the Local Support Group for the project. During the project period, the WFP-project was on the agenda of the Board of Directors.

On February 5th 2014, during the Partner Group Meeting in Roeselare, Koplamp Architects presented their study to the LSG. From that moment on the main question was no longer “Which new content should be given to the building?”, but became more opportunistic “How to find the budget to finance the renovation costs?”.

During this meeting the Lead Expert of the WFP-project suggested to renovate the location with innovative materials and try to make a EU Horizon-2020 project of it.

This suggestion was further taken into account and investigated. The idea was to create an educational center for industrial and construction related handicrafts in the building (Leerlokaal) and to integrate it in a project called Revivak. Although this project would be good to renovate some minor parts and some equipment, however this project will never generate the necessary budget to renovate the building. Other ideas which were investigated were to create a food market hall in the Old Brewery or a distribution center for local food products.

6 MEETING – OWNER PALM BREWERIES The LSG and site manager proposed to arrange a meeting with the owner of Palm Breweries, and hence the owner of the Old Brewery building. The several project ideas were explained to him. The main point of the owner was to bring as many people as possible to the brewery facilities without intervening to much with the active brewery. The owner was also very much interested to create a link with food and authenticity.

The project proposals to install an educational center or a market hall on the site were applauded. Especially the concept of a Market Hall which had the most obvious connection with authentic food caught the interest of the brewery owner. An educational center for craftsmanship on the other hand could possibly nicely interlink with the cooperage, situated in the Rodenbach brewery.

As the proposals seemed interesting, the owner agreed to join a follow-up meeting with representatives of the city and the province. This meeting was prepared via one-on-one meetings with the city and the province.

MEETING – CITY OF ROESELARE Briefly after the meeting with the brewery owner, a gathering with the city mayor was organized. The project proposal to install a market hall on the site was positively evaluated regarding the link with the food sector. The idea of installing a training center for craftsmanship in the Old Brewery was less favorable according to the mayor, as there is no clear connection with the food sector. The city mayor proposed another location for this training center.

Considering the high renovation cost of the Old Brewery, the city mayor restated that there is hardly any budget available from the city to co-invest in the renovation. They referred to the POM West-Vlaanderen (provincial development agency) to ask for financial resources, given its interests in the neighboring House of Food.

MEETING – PROVINCE WEST-FLANDERS The meeting with the provincial deputy for economy / chairman of the POM West-Vlaanderen taught us that the Province shows high interest in the concept of a market hall in the Old Brewery. There was less interest in the project proposal for a training center.

SUMMIT MEETING – BREWERY OWNER, CITY OF ROESELARE, PROVINCE WEST-FLANDERS On December 9th 2014 the main representatives of the brewery, the Province of West-Flanders and the city of Roeselare gathered to discuss the different project proposals. The meeting started with a presentation by the architect of a detailed and phased cost calculation.

Quite soon it was clear that none of the proposed projects would generate sufficient budget to even tackle the costs of the first phase of the renovation.

The city of Roeselare restated its commitment to take a long lease on the building under clear conditions and commitments of other partners. A substantial financial contribution of the city is not an option.

The POM wanted to make some financial commitments, but these were insufficient to realize something substantial. Therefore POM suggested a new option, to install a heritage depot.

7 Although all of the interlocutors agreed that this was not the most favorable new purpose for the building, they all agreed that, as this was the most feasible option, it had to be further examined as the only option able to generate the necessary budget.

INVESTIGATION OF ‘DEPOT FOR HERITAGE ITEMS’ The Provincial culture department has a budget to install regional depots for heritage items. In these depots several regional heritage organizations can gather their heritage items in an adapted and protected environment. If the Old Brewery would be a feasible location for such a regional depot, some budgets might be found to renovate (a part of) the building.

This line was thoroughly investigated in cooperation with the city of Roeselare and BIE (regional heritage organization). The final report however was negative. This report can be found in annex.

8 CONCLUSIONS The different meetings and investigations did not lead to a concrete favorable scenario for the Old Brewery building. The main obstacles are the high renovation costs and the high level of protection of the building. However, significant steps were taken during the WFP-project.

- different options and its cost were clarified - a phased approach of the renovation and its cost were clarified - inspiration for alternative purposes of the building was gathered during the public event Rondje Rood-Bruin - the dossier of the Old Brewery was placed at the top of the public, political and administrative agenda - the Old Brewery became part of the zoning plan of the city - the possibility to attract possible private investors increased - the preferences of the main stakeholders were mapped out

The WFP-project opened the door for public and/or private actors who want to achieve something in the Old Brewery building. Recent evolutions accelerated the efforts of the city according to the area around the Old Brewery, so the chances that that some party will dare to invest in the building strongly increased. The knowledge gathered throughout this project will obviously be widely distributed to the different stakeholders.

Given the difficult economic times, at present few private investors are tempted to take major financial risks. Combined with the fact that most public budgets are cut, today is probably not the perfect time to find a public or private actor to take this project into hands.

At present no further action will be undertaken regarding this concrete project. However this project will be integrated into a larger masterplan for the district of Krottegem.

9 ACTION PLAN

EXPANSION OF THE EXISTING MASTERPLAN FOR THE BREWERY There already exists a minor masterplan of the city of Roeselare to optimize the accessibility of the Rodenbach brewery. At present trucks driving to or from the brewery have to drive through residential quarters to reach the highway. A small masterplan was created by the city to reduce the nuisance of the trucks by building a new access route from the brewery towards the Kop van de Vaart area.

It is proposed to retain this masterplan and to expand it to the surrounding neighborhood. The idea is to upgrade the areas ‘Kop van de Vaart’ and ‘Spanjestraat’. This whole area has to become a showcase of the regional and Flemish food industry with the Flanders House of Food and possibly the Old Brewery as its masterpiece.

An important aspect of this masterplan will be the balance between the economical and the recreational assets of the area. Although the area has a huge recreational capacity, it should not be at the expense of the important economic activities which characterize the neighborhood.

STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT To improve the success rate of the masterplan and to increase the ownership, it is important to actively involve the main stakeholders. The most important stakeholders are the city of Roeselare, the neighboring businesses, the neighborhood population and the Province of West- Flanders.

PREPARATION OF AN URBACT-III PROJECT TO ELABORATE A NEW MASTERPLAN In order to properly carry out the masterplan in a professional way, it would be appropriate to do this through a project. The possibility will be investigated to join an URBACT III-project with other cities and municipalities which are developing areas with water bound economic activities. An important aspect is to learn how economic activity can be durably combined with other city functions such as recreation.

10 EXTRA RESULTS Although the main aim of the WFP-project in Roeselare was to detect a new durable purpose of the Old Brewery of Rodenbach, the project also had some other positive effects. These achievements are also of importance to the city, the region and eventually maybe the Old Brewery:

- The non-profit organization RADAR will invite architecture students to design a redevelopment plan for the Old Brewery as part of their training program. - The increased attention for this dossier also increased the attention for other empty buildings in the city within the local authorities. The WFP-project unconsciously advanced the theme from a micro to a meso level. It also led to a more integrated approach within the city and the region of the policy on empty buildings and sites. - Also within some educational institutions one can notice a higher awareness towards the interest and possible use of empty buildings. - The increased interest with the general public for the Old Brewery also increased the interest for brewery-related craftsmanship (coopering, maltstering, brewing, …) - The intense cooperation within the WFP-project between private, public and academic actors can be seen as a good practice to tackle similar projects in the future.

11 ADDENDA

SWOT-ANALYSIS3 STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

- Valuable industrial heritage - Familiarity and kinship with Rodenbach (beer and - Limited parking possibilities brewery) - High restoration costs - Site with different functions - Protected building (limits) - Possibility to improve the circulation - Structure of the building - Property rights of the city of some sites around the - Financial situation of the brewery and the brewery public bodies - Proximity of the Flanders’ House of Food - No priority - Location - Political goodwill

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

- Redevelopment of the Krottegem area - Other breweries in the direct area which can - Flemish subsidies for renovations be visited - Flemish subsidies for touristic developments - Limited tourist attraction of Roeselare - Regional touristic product line on food and - Red tape of the Flemish heritage department gastronomy - Decrease of public funds - Increased attention / awareness on food - Other priorities - International attention on Belgian beers - Wood Footprint project

COMPOSITION OF THE LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP/ BOARD OF DIRECTORS VHVDV VZW

Naam Voornaam Functies Director POM W-VL / Chairman RESOC M-W-VL / Verkest Hendrik Mayor municipality of Martens Luc Mayor city of Roeselare / Chairman VVSG Decoster Dirk Director Fevia / Director POM W-VL Vanslembrouck Isabel Departemental director VIVES high school Demyttenaere Paul General Director REO-veiling Declercq Kris Alderman city of Roeselare Bosch Marie Claire Secretary-General Fevia Demaeght Marc Director POM W-VL / Secretary ACV M-W-VL Vanwalleghem Marc Alderman city of Roeselare Chairman Fevia Vlaanderen / Managing Director Vander Stichele Jan Lotus Bakeries Matton Stefaan General Director POM W-VL

COST CALCULATION

3 SWOT-analysis gebased Quickscan-study of March 2013 by Westtoer.

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13 RESEARCH ‘DEPOT FOR HERITAGE ITEMS’(IN DUTCH)

Herbestemming oude brouwzaal als erfgoeddepot?

De oude brouwzaal van brouwerij Rodenbach dateert uit 1864 en werd door de jaren heen verschillende keren uitgebreid. De brouwzaal bleef in dienst tot januari 2002, dan werd de nieuwe brouwzaal aan de overkant van de fabriekskoer in gebruik genomen. Sindsdien staat de oude brouwzaal leeg. In het kader van een aantal (Europese) opportuniteiten wordt momenteel onderzocht welke herbestemming het beschermde gebouw zou kunnen krijgen. De oorspronkelijke structuur van het gebouw is bewaard gebleven, als ook de belangrijkste interieurelementen. Het gebouw is beschermd (met inbegrip van de interieurelementen). Er vonden twee plaatsbezoeken plaats :

 06/01/2014 : Tijs Deschacht, Wouter Lammens, Ann Bouckaert, Liederik Cordonni, Annelies Anseeuw en Kim Van Belleghem  22/01/2014 : Bernard Lambert (architect en verantwoordelijk voor de renovatie en restauratie van het bezoekerscentrum), Frederik Mahieu (consulent onroerend erfgoed) en Annelies Anseeuw

Hieronder een aantal mee te nemen overwegingen. Het is belangrijk om dit dossier vanuit 2 invalshoeken te bekijken :

1. Ervan uitgaande dat de oude brouwzaal een herbestemming moet krijgen, is de piste van een herbestemming als erfgoeddepot dan een goede piste? 2. Ervan uitgaande dat er nood is aan een erfgoeddepot in de regio, is de oude brouwzaal dan een goede locatie hiervoor?

Wat betreft de eerste vraag :

Een herbestemming van de oude brouwzaal tot erfgoeddepot past bij de huidige activiteiten op de site. Het gebouw zelf heeft veel karakter en een herbestemming zou het eindpunt betekenen van jarenlange leegstand.

Bovendien zou er financiële ondersteuning van de provincie mogelijk zijn (nog niet formeel bevestigd door deputatie).

Anderzijds is het verder relevant om op te merken dat een erfgoeddepot niet zou bijdragen aan de dynamiek op deze site. Zeker wanneer er enkel statische archieven zouden bewaard worden, en de dienstverlening minimaal zou zijn.

Wat betreft de tweede vraag is het belangrijk om drie aspecten te bekijken :

1. Een erfgoeddepot vergt– en dan zeker als het gaat over archiefmateriaal dat heel kwetsbaar is – een aangepast binnenklimaat. En daar komt heel wat bij kijken: dikke isolatie, een klimaatsysteem, verduisterde ruimtes enzoverder. Een goed depot bestaat uit gladde muren, vloeren en plafonds om stofopstapeling te vermijden.

2. Verder is de draagkracht van de vloeren van cruciaal belang. De richtgegevens hiervoor zijn als volgt: een draagkracht van 700 tot 1000 kg/m² voor depots met vaste rekken,

14 een draagkracht van 1000 tot 1500 kg/m² voor depots met mobiele rekken. Depotrekken gevuld met archiefmateriaal zullen bovendien een pak meer gewicht dragen dan rekken gevuld met schilderijen… Naast het feit dat het gebouw nu structureel verzwakt is (onder andere verzakking op de 1e verdieping), is het gebouw wellicht niet stevig genoeg om een depot met archiefmateriaal te huisvesten. Deze mening is ook architect Bernard Lambert toegedaan, maar enkel een onderzoek naar de draagkracht van het gebouw kan hierover uitsluitsel geven.

3. Door de vele beschermde interieurelementen, zijn er slechts een beperkt aantal zones die in aanmerking komen voor een herbestemming tot erfgoeddepot. De ruimtes waar brouwketels opgesteld staan (2e, 3e en 4e verdieping) kunnen zich wel lenen als bezoekersruimte / ruimte voor personeel / polyvalent gebruik. Welke herbestemming er ook komt, de interne circulatie zal verbeterd moeten worden. Dat kan opgevangen worden door een nieuwe aanbouw aan de zijde van de publiekskoer.

Overzicht van de ‘vrije’ ruimtes (volgens de plannen van architect Bernard Lambert – zie ppt Liederik (slide 14-18)). :

 Vierkante en rechthoekige ruimtes (kelder en 1e verdieping)

Dit zijn de grootste ruimtes die vrij in te richten zijn. De stabiliteit van het gebouw is hier echter niet optimaal (troggewelven – verzakking 1e verdieping). In de kelder zou je een deel van de extra (later bijgeplaatste) pilaren kunnen wegnemen om ruimte te winnen, maar dit is nefast voor de draagcapaciteit van het gebouw en bovendien is de beschikbare hoogte onvoldoende. De kelder lijkt op het eerste zicht wel droog, maar vermoedelijk is de relatieve vochtigheid in deze ruimtes aan de hoge kant.

 Gistbakken (2e, 3e en 4e verdieping)

Op de 2e verdieping staan 10 gistbakken, op de 3e en 4e verdieping telkens 8 gistbakken. Frederik Mahieu is het voorstel om gistbakken te verwijderen om zo meer ruimte te hebben voor het depot genegen. Hij wou geen uitspraak doen over hoeveel gistbakken uiteindelijk mogen verdwijnen. Onroerend Erfgoed wil dit enkel bekijken als er een volledig plan op tafel ligt. De zolder van de gistkamers zou tot een volwaardige verdieping kunnen worden uitgebouwd.

 Koelschip (4e verdieping)

Onder de koperen koelbak is er geen vloer: onvoldoende draagkracht om archieven te bewaren. Daarnaast leent de vorm van de ruimte zich ook niet om hier depotrekken te plaatsen.

 De ruimtes gelegen aan de straatkant (2e, 3e, en 4e verdieping)

Deze ruimtes zijn vrij in te richten, maar hebben het nadeel dat ze niet aansluiten op de andere ‘vrije’ delen van het gebouw. Het gaat ook om een beperkt aantal vierkante meter.

15 Volgens de plannen van architect Bernard Lambert is het mogelijk om ongeveer 1575 m² van het gebouw te herbestemmen. Hij rekent de ruimtes met de brouwketels hier gedeeltelijk in mee.

Volgens de gegevens die Ann Bouckaert ons bezorgde gecombineerd met de gegevens uit de studie van Iris Steen en Annemie Rossenbacker, zouden we ongeveer 1551,96 m² nodig hebben om het archiefmateriaal van de gemeentelijke archieven uit de BIE- regio te herbergen (rekening houdend met een aangroeiperiode van 20 jaar). Daarnaast zou nog 483 m² nodig zijn voor andere materialen dan archief. Hoewel het cijfermateriaal van de archieven niet accuraat is – uit de gegevens kan niet opgemaakt worden of het gaat om statisch archief of publiek archief- , lijkt de beschikbare oppervlakte in de oude brouwzaal onvoldoende.

Bovendien wordt er in een eerste fase slechts werk gemaakt van een herbestemming van de kelder en de eerste verdieping. Deze ruimtes volstaan absoluut niet om er een erfgoeddepot van te maken en brengen bovendien ook bouwtechnisch heel wat problemen met zich mee.

Conclusie : zowel bouwtechnisch als naar oppervlakte is de oude brouwzaal niet de meest wenselijke locatie voor een erfgoeddepot. Is de oude brouwzaal een ideaal erfgoeddepot? Neen. Is de inrichting als erfgoeddepot een goede herbestemming voor de site? Wellicht wel, maar dan alleen als de volledige site ineens wordt aangepakt. Dit is echter op dit moment financieel niet haalbaar.

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