House of correction

The Tuchthuis is popularly called, to this day, 'the correction'. The buildings of the Tuchthuis have had an eventful history. They were built at the end of the 18th century and served as a prison for criminals, prostitutes, vagrants and deserters. The prisoners learned a craft or a profession. Wool, cotton, hemp and glass were processed in the prison, intended for sale. The buildings also served as an internment centre for the mentally disturbed and as a military hospital. After 1920, the Tuchthuis was taken over by the army and became a training center for the transmission troops. The army left the buildings in 1974 and in 1981 the city of Vilvoorde bought the entire complex to house a number of city services. For the renovation of this site, a new project was started, the so-called Watersite Campus project.

stad Vilvoorde