The Poelaert Elevators (French: Ascenseurs Poelaert; Dutch: Poelaertliften),[1][2] in popular language Elevators of the Marolles (French: Ascenseurs des Marolles;[3][4]Dutch: Liften van de Marollen[5]) is a public elevator in the Marolles/Marollen district of Brussels, Belgium. It connects the lower and upper town at the Square Breughel l'Ancien/Breughel de Oudeplein with the Place Poelaert/Poelaertplein,[1] in the vicinity of the Palace of Justice. The elevator consists of two independent elevators, hence the plural elevators (French: ascenseurs; Dutch: liften) sometimes used for its name.
The idea of building a means of transport connecting the Marolles/Marollen neighbourhood and the Place Poelaert/Poelaertplein is much older; in the 19th century, it was proposed to build a funicular for this purpose.[3] In the early 1990s, the architect Patrice Neirinck of AVA Architects promoted the concept of building a vertical elevator.[6] The proposal sought to "open up the Marolles district" and "revitalise the Square Breughel l'Ancien/Breughel de Oudeplein",[7] located at the bottom, making it a crossing point.[6]
CFE was appointed as the general contractor, and the supply of the two elevators and the electromechanical systems were provided by Schindler Group.[1] The architectural project was executed by the AVA Architects office, under the coordination of the architect Patrice Neirinck, while the Verdeyen & Moenaert took care of the stability study.[3]
The construction cost about 78 million Belgian francs (equivalent to about €2 million),[6] of which 51 million francs (about €1.25 million) for the bulk of the investment, and 27 million francs (about €676,000) for the elevators. Funding was provided by the Brussels-Capital Region and the Belgian Federal Government under a cooperation agreement. The Ministry of Communications and Infrastructure was in charge of the project management, receiving technical assistance from the Directorate of Electromechanical Constructions.[3]
After the construction of the tower, the future metal walkway was installed between the upper part and the Place Poelaert. The 36-metre-long (118ft) walkway was made at Geel, Antwerp, and transported to Brussels by a special convoy, arriving on the esplanade at the Palace of Justice around 10:00 on 13 October 2001.[3] The entire lift was inaugurated in June 2002[6] and became one of the area's most popular tourist attractions.[8] Its administration and operation was entrusted by the municipality to the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB/MIVB).[4][3]
Operation
The operation of the new elevator was marked by numerous technical problems,[9] the first being reported only one month after the inauguration, on 21 July 2002.[10] In 2019, for example, STIB/MIVB had to intervene a total of 131 times to remedy the faults that occurred at the two elevators: 43 wedges in one of them, 88 wedges in the other. The main reasons that led to the shutdown of the elevators were the unfavorable weather conditions and vandalism.[4]
In April 2018, 1,300 colored T-shirts were hung from the structure of the elevator, as part of the work entitled If I Had Wings, a cultural experiment by the Finnish artist Kaarina Kaikkonen.[5]
In July 2020, the Minister for Mobility and Public Works of the Brussels-Capital Region, Elke Van den Brandt, confirmed that the lift would be rehabilitated in the first quarter of 2021.[4]
About a million people use the elevator every year.[6]
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