Could two air-raid shelters beneath Palais du Midi block Brussels' metro line 3 project?

Urban action group ARAU has stirred up fresh controversy regarding Brussels’ contentious metro line 3 project by identifying two air-raid shelters beneath the due-to-be demolished Palais du Midi.

The discovery of the wartime shelters  — among the largest in the capital — reignites the current standoff over the dismantling of the 19th-century monument to eclectic architecture, reports RTBF.

“We’ve been on the trail of these air-raid shelters for a few months now,” said ARAU director Marion Alcerian.

Long dismissed as urban legend, the existence of the underground structures is now confirmed. Built between 1940 and 1943 by the City of Brussels, these two passive air-defence facilities, extending over 450m2, could accommodate up to 1,500 people.

Notably, they predate the currently heritage-listed shelter located beneath Place du Jeu de Balle. According to ARAU, this important detail was found by cross-referencing recent testimonies with meticulous research into municipal archives.

Yet, this heritage site has so far not been listed. With Palais du Midi situated directly on the planned route of the future metro 3 line, time is running out. The project, led by public transport operator STIB, requires the partial dismantling of the historic building’s interior to allow for the construction of the Toots Thielemans metro station.

For heritage advocates, the situation is urgent. “What is intriguing — if not alarming — is knowing that work has already begun in the underground areas […] even though the building’s history and nature have not been fully explored,” warned Alcerian. “The stakes go beyond architectural value: the site sheltered the people of Brussels during the world war, establishing itself as a true site of collective memory.”

ARAU has condemned the refusal by the City of Brussels, which owns Palais du Midi, to provide access to the complete underground plans.

“For months, we have been asking various City of Brussels bodies and departments for access to the plans, and they keep refusing,” Alcerian said. Requests for its heritage listing submitted by the association in 2023 and 2025 were dismissed by the local government, which argued that protecting the building would hinder the tunnel excavation.

ARAU is now calling for an immediate halt to the underground work, as well as intervention by the Brussels-Capital Region to launch a proper archaeological study.

In a statement, It also asked municipal authorities to stop cooperating with what it describes as “heritage destruction orchestrated by the STIB.”

Photos: ©ARAU