User:Bangiomorpha/Place Jules Destrée

The place Jules Destrée is one of the most important squares in the Gilly section, Charleroi (Belgium). It is named after the Belgian politician Jules Destrée.

The public space is crossed is surrounded and occupied by private and public buildings, the most important of which are the former Gilly Town Hall and the Centre du temps choisi, a cultural center.

The square by Rue Genard, bordered to the north-east by Chaussé de Lodelinsart and to the south-west by Rue du Calvaire.

History
After the Second World War, the municipality of Gilly decided to concentrate various public facilities around a public space to make it the administrative heart of Gilly. Over the years, various projects have been carried out, which have determined the current layout of the square.

In 1959, the architects Georges Simon and Charles Bailleux built the municipal school of Gilly centre, which accommodates primary and secondary school pupils and a library. The Centre du Temps Choisi and the Gilly town hall, which form an interface with the Lodelinsart road, were built by the architects Brigode, Balériaux & associés. The centre was completed in 1964, while construction of the town hall continued until 1976.

Refurbishment project
In 2014, the Charleroi Bouwmeester Georgios Maïllis raised interest in the site of the Place Jules Destrée during the famous Europan architecture competition. Under the title 'adaptable cities', the city of Charleroi proposed this site with the ambition to rehabilitate the Quatre-bras neighborhood in Gilly. Four projects were selected in the competition, in which some sixty architects under the age of 40 from all over Europe participated. In 2017, the project of the Brussels-based architectural firm Central was selected to develop a new masterplan for the square. The work on this investment of 4.264 million investment in this public space is planned for 2022.