The Waterloo battlefield. |
REPORT ON THE PRESENTATION OF PLANS FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WATERLOO BATTLEFIELD
The plans for renovation and rebuilding of the hamlet around the Lion
Mound were presented on Monday afternoon, May 10 th , by the Intercommunale
‘Battle of Waterloo 1815’ Committee in Waterloo.
Of course, the British are twichy about this.
Stephen Drake Jones of the Wellington Society
said (The museum) had better be balanced. I am always concerned about
something like this."
The chairman of the Waterloo Committee which has been attempting to
have the historical site upgraded said, "We are delighted that
something is being done." But on hearing that the new centre was
to be run by a French museum company he said, "There is always
a concern that it could purport to be a Napoleonic victory."
There are continuing controversies about the battle with a recent German
book accusing Wellington of exaggerating his own role and downplaying
the efforts of the Prussians. To ensure balnce the new museum will be
overseen by a supervisory board of historians from every country that
participated in the war.
So: WHAT DO THE PLANS CONSIST OF?
The Minister for Tourism in Wallonia, Serge Kubla, made the introductions
and confirmed that the companies responsible for the renovations will
be the Belgian architects BEAI, Tractabel – a Belgian construction
company, and Culture Espaces, a French museum management company. He
also pointed out that the government of Wallonia has purchased all the
buildings in the hamlet around the Lion Mound.
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The lion mound. |
Monsieur Gherlaine, head of the architectural group BEAI, explained
that the first project will be to divert the present road around the
back of the hamlet, so that the space in front of the Lion Mound and
the Panorama will be a safe pedestrian area. A parking lot will be created
on the side of the new road, on the reverse slope behind the Bivouac
Restaurant.
Trees will be planted between the rows of cars in order to keep the
view from the higher terrain as green as possible.
From the parking lot a path will lead visitors toward the Lion Mound.
They will first encounter a long ‘wall of memory’, on which
all the names of all the regiments that fought in the battle will be
inscribed. Going through an opening in the wall, visitors will
find themselves at the entrance to a sunken building, which will be
built below ground level, but not completely underground, so that it
can be lit by natural light. The building will contain a visitors centre,
rooms for temporary and permanent exhibitions, conference and education
facilities, an archive and a room for members of historical associations.
Mr. Bruno Monnier, head of Culture Espace, then talked about programmes
and facilities.
The go-kart track has already been dismantled. The present visitors
centre, and the Café des Allies will be taken down, also the
houses that block the uninterrupted view of the battlefield to the south.
Modern annexes attached to the old buildings will disappear. Only appropriate
19 th century buildings will be preserved and used for staff lodging,
education centres, cinema facilities for a 3D film about the battle,
etc. Workshops may be provided for artisans who can work at trades contemporary
with the battle, a blacksmith for example, or a leather worker.
There will be paths for walking and biking around the battlefield and
appropriate explanations en route. Many of the derelict signs have already
been removed.
The History Committee (Comité Scientifique), made up of representatives
from all the countries that took part in the battle, has had a visible
influence on these plans, and in the future they will continue to work
directly and closely with Culture Espace in designing the improvements,
both outdoors and in. Jacque Logie’s newly published and richly
illustrated history of the battle, Waterloo, La Campagne de 1815, will
be used as a general historical reference.
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