A new public square will soon see the light of day at the foot of the palace and potash coasts: the Place de Namur. A wink from Quebec City to the Belgian city to which she has been twinned since 1999.
Project costs amount to $ 900,000. The first phase of the work must start next week and the place must be inaugurated in the spring of 2026.
The place, which is only a simple street corner, will see its sidewalks widened. It will host benches and works of art.
It is at the foot of the coasts of the potash and the palace that the future place of Namur will be born.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Nicolas Perron-Drolet
A twinning hyper profitable
Mayor Bruno Marchand spoke of the twinning of Quebec and Namur as a partnership hyper profitable
which allows the two cities to share their knowledge.
For example, employees of the Belgian town took advantage of the visit to study the pedestrian streets of the capital. In recent months, a team from the Quebec Library Service has also supported its Namur counterparts for a local project.
Bruno Marchand, surrounded by Maxime Prévot, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anne Barzin, first alderman of Namur, and artist Danielle April.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Flavie Sauvageau
For this announcement, Bruno Marchand was accompanied by the bourgmestre (the equivalent of the mayor) of Namur, Maxime Prévot, released from his functions as mayor since his appointment to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium last February.
It is more important than ever, certainly, at a time when, at the international level, everything is a little shaken, to recall the importance of links. They are essential. We too often speak of the accumulation of goods and too little of the accumulation of links
he said.
He was accompanied by Anne Barzin, first alderman of Namur. She presented a gift from her city to Quebec City, intended to embellish the future place.
These Namur “stages” accompanied the Belgian delegation. They specialize in a street art which consists in fighting on stilts. Namur’s stoists are registered with the UNESCO intangible heritage list.
Photo : Radio-Canada
It is a bas-relief engraved in stone, an exact copy of The Hure du Grognona work of the 17th century. Hure means pig’s head
. The work symbolizes the confluence and refers to the meeting between the Meuse, a river which crosses Namur, and the Sambre, a river.
A work of public art by the artist of Quebec Danielle April will also embellish the place. Traffic should be maintained during the work, but could be altered, says the mayor.