Brussels' Jewish Museum to undergo remodel

The Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels plans to demolish part of the building it occupies on Miniemenstraat and undergo a remodel, the board announced at the weekend. The museum is scheduled to open again on September 14; it has been closed since the attack on May 24, when an armed man killed four people.

The demolition work is due to begin late next year, said museum chair Philippe Blondin, but he said they had no connection with the attack. “The building the Jewish Museum now occupies is rather old, and two years or so ago it was decided to break it down and build a new museum,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.

Plans had already been approved before the attack, in which a member of staff, a volunteer and two Israeli visitors were shot dead. French national Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested soon after the shooting and is now in custody in Belgium.

“The architects will now determine whether, in the light of the attack, additional security measures can be integrated into the plans,” said Blondin. The museum intends to open its doors again on September 14, the European Day of Jewish Culture.

photo courtesy Michel Wal/Wikimedia