Closure of cultural hub LaVallée spells more bad news for Brussels’ Canal Plan

Molenbeek cultural hub LaVallée, which combined office space with artistic events, is closing its doors.

The closure deals a serious blow to Brussels’ Canal Plan, L’Echo reports, which was supposed to revitalise the area north of the capital.

LaVallée opened in 2014 and became a well-known and recognised third-party space in the Brussels cultural scene. The initiator was Smart Coop, once a non-profit organisation, now a cooperative, which acts as an umbrella company for creative freelancers.

Artists had their studios there and an estimated 180 entrepreneurs from the cultural and creative industries also rented office space. While numerous events - exhibitions, concerts and debates - were held there every week, it was not enough to guarantee the project’s profitability.

The board of directors behind the decision to close said that LaVallée never broke even and required considerable investment.

“While the objective is not to make a profit at any price or to respond to a capitalist logic of profitability, the business shared by thousands of members must at least ensure economic equilibrium,” the directors said in a statement.

“LaVallée has never achieved economic equilibrium and required considerable investment to be able to continue its activities with a financial risk that [could have] exceeded €1.5 million.”

Activities at LaVallée will come to an end in October, although Pierre Pevée, the site manager, said he was not giving up hope just yet.

“After the failure of the takeover process over the last three years, I fully understand the decision, but we are going to do everything we can to continue,” said Pevée.

LaVallée’s closure comes not long after the October announcement of the closure of Mima, just one kilometre away.

Brussels' Canal Plan, an urban renewal initiative, aimed to create a new "productive city" in the area by 2025, with a mix of industry, housing and public spaces.

“The renewal of the canal area will symbolise the renewal of Brussels,” minister-president Rudi Vervoort said back in 2021.

“It is along the canal that we will make a success of the Brussels of 2025.”

But Pevée said the opposite was true: “For a district that was said to be up-and-coming, these are two leading projects that have fallen by the wayside. We will now have to rely on other initiatives.”

Residents also expressed their disappointment in the most recent closure of LaVallée.

“LaVallée was set up at the time as a signboard for Smart, a large group that prides itself on values like solidarity – it was never meant to be a project that had to pay off,” Lien Moens, who has her architecture firm in LaVallée, told Bruzz.

“Now almost 200 residents have to find a new place. Especially for the artists, it’s very difficult. Affordable studios are hard to find in Brussels. Why was there no public project call so that the broad cultural field, including Dutch-speaking organisations, could take an initiative?”

Other residents accused Smart of taking too little action to counter the losses, which the co-op publicly announced two years ago, and are asking for the decision to be reconsidered.

Pevée said management were looking for potential partners to help LaVallée carry on, one of which is Molenbeek 2030 - the organisation behind Molenbeek's candidacy to become European Capital of Culture.

Jan Goossens, Molenbeek 2030’s co-commissioner, did not wish to comment yet on a possible relaunch of LaVallée but did say “there is no doubt that LaVallée is a crucial place and player for Molenbeek 2030”.