King Baudouin Park

The King Baudouin Park is a park located in the Brussels municipality of Jette. It is a neighbourhood park with a recreational function in the Molenbeek valley.Originally, a motorway was planned through the area, which would connect the current diversion with motorway profile of the N9 in Zellik with the De Smet de Naeyerlaan in Jette. In the 1970s, the construction of this road was effectively started on the territory of the former municipality of Zellik. However, in 1977, the municipality of Jette decided to create a park in the Molenbeek valley. This park would connect the Laarbeek forest, the marshes of Jette and Ganshoren, the Poelbos, the Dieleghem forest and the Heilig-Harttuin. With the completion of the third phase of the King Baudouin Park in 1989, this objective was effectively achieved. By connecting all these green spaces, the aim was to create a northern counterpart to the Bois de la Cambre and the Forêt de Soignes in the south and the parks in the Woluwe Valley in the east of Brussels. As it was a major contract, the project was carried out by the Brussels Region. Around 1980, he bought all the land that was necessary for the realisation of this park. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Belgian monarchy in 1980, the park was named after King Baudouin. Initially, there was a plan to build a large exhibition complex for flowers in the park, the so-called Brussels Floralies, but this plan met with fierce resistance and was therefore never realized. The sad way in which the park was laid out and the exorbitant cost of the park led to a lot of dissatisfaction in the media and among local residents.

Wikipedia