Residents welcome reopening of abandoned stadium in Anderlecht

Verdonck stadium, in the Scheut area of Anderlecht, will soon open to local residents after being abandoned for almost 20 years.

Anderlecht council and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation that owns the site have finally reached an agreement to open the stadium for public use.

The decision was made following complaints made by local residents since 2019 about people dumping waste and squatting in the old stadium building, which has not been demolished.

“Following a clean-up operation, the question is if and how the stadium could be used, instead of letting it deteriorate further,” said Anderlecht councillor in charge of public spaces Allan Neuzy (Ecolo/Groen).

It remains to be seen how site management and maintenance will be carried out. A meeting was held in July with residents to discuss these logistical concerns and also to determine a legal framework to use the site.

The stadium’s reopening is a victory for local groups and Brussels’ non-profit association that campaigns to save open spaces and green areas, We Are Nature. It called for the site to be reopened so it can be used by children and all the inhabitants of Anderlecht’s Scheut district.

“It’s a neighbourhood with very few open areas and hardly any green space where children can just play,” said local resident and lawyer Selma Benkhelifa, saying that it is crazy to think that the stadium has been closed for so long.

“This stadium would be an ideal location. The Société Publique d’Administration des Bâtiments Scolaires (SPABS) has been planning to use it as a site for Adeps [the association running sports centres and activities in Brussels and Wallonia] for years, but it will be several years before that happens. While they wait, people living in the area can make optimal use of it.”

Locals have many ideas for the site – such as football, jogging, especially for girls who want a safe area to run, or a place to picnic for families, Benkhelifa told Bruzz.

Ultimately she welcomes that under the project called, ‘Pour les Enfants’, using this formerly discarded stadium again will mean that children will no longer have to take public transport to play football. “This is something unbelievable, when there is a large pitch available right in front of our door,” she added.