New state-of-the-art prison breaks ground in Dendermonde
Following 20 years of planning and protest, work on the new prison in East Flanders is finally underway
Old prison ‘dilapidated’
While there will be more capacity, the prison will be built according to the same design as the prison in Beveren, about 25 kilometres north of Dendermonde. The Beveren prison was completed in 2014.
Both prisons were in fact planned to be built simultaneously, but problems with permits and community protest have delayed the construction in Dendermonde. “For a long time, we didn’t know if the prison was actually going to be built,” city councillor Marius Meremans (N-VA) told VRT. “There has been a lot of legal wrangling and unfortunately protest against the location. We have lost a lot of time and money, but we’re glad we can move ahead now.”
Residents and environmental organisations were concerned about the location of the new prison, situated in the southwest of the city in a rural area known as Oud Klooster. It is bordered by the railway line to the south, the Oude Dender distributary to the north and the Dender river to the west.
Current prison 150 years old
The Council of State has made several judgments over the years with regards to the planning and environmental permits. Permit requests have been adjusted several times and finally found acceptable by the Council.
The new prison will be 41,000 square metres, “a compact building,” according to architect John Eyers. “It will be ready in two years because the concrete elements are prefabricated, with the pipes already buried inside. That means that there will be less work needing to be done on site.”
Dendermonde’s current prison in the middle of the city is more than 150 years old. “The current prison is completely dilapidated,” said Dendermonde mayor Piet Buyse (CD&V). “It no longer adheres to the norms required for prisoners and for staff.”
The prison made international headlines in 2006 when no fewer than 28 prisoners escaped by breaking an old lock and climbing over a prison wall. They were able to use a public telephone booth standing on the other side of the wall to make their way safely to the ground.
Image: Architectural rendering of the new prison in Dendermonde
