Belgian stock exchange to become beer temple

Brussels’ Bourse building, Belgium’s former stock exchange, is to become a place of pilgrimage for beer lovers, it was announced yesterday. The ‘Temple to Belgian Beer’ project finds a use for the grand 19th century building near the Grand’ Place, which is fronted by Corinthian columns and resembles a classical temple. The Brussels Bourse was abandoned by stockbrokers in 1996 after the computerisation of the financial markets and then became a site for temporary exhibitions. But the building has fallen into disuse since municipal authorities took it over in 2012. After a 15-month study Brussels authorities gave the green light to a plan to make a temple to Belgian beer, the country's most prized export, in partnership with the Belgian Brewers' Federation, officials said. Philippe Close, the deputy Brussels mayor in charge of tourism, said he hoped the ‘temple’ could be open by 2018 and attract 400,000 visitors a year. "Beer is to Belgium what wine is to France; it gives our small country a real identity," Sven Gatz, the president of the brewers' federation, told AFP. Exports of Belgian beer have soared 70 per cent over the last decade, with 62 percent of the beer produced last year now shipped abroad.

(AFP)