1st restoration phase coming to its end and demonstration event

The end of the first phase of the restoration of the old Wielemans-Ceuppens machines approaches and the work progresses rapidly! We are so proud about the spectacular results our team of technicians have achieved so far!

Among other things, Mohamed, Abdeslam and José Luis – always under the supervision of Dino – have completed the rehabilitation of the bridge crane and the recovery of the splendour of the compressor De La Vergne, which was put in motion for the first time in more than 100 years!

They have now turned their attention to the electrical board, which had been severely vandalised. Currently, they are sanding the controllers and the dials with wire brushes.

The controllers will be fastened as soon as we receive the new nuts.

Last week, they have cleaned the lower part of the marble panels of the electric board with an environmentally friendly product. The result is excellent! The upper marble panels are being cleaned this week. Besides, they have replaced the background papers and the acrylic glasses of the dials that are still in place (see post of 09/02/16). There are many of them missing, though; they will be remade by an artist.

Demonstration evening

Last Friday (19/02/16), the association BruxellesFabriques, which is in charge of the restoration, organized an evening to show the progress of the works to local and regional authorities, as well as representatives of Europa Nostra. In their speeches, the authorities – including the Mayor of Forest Marc-Jean Ghyssels – welcomed the success of our program. Mr Ghyssels highlighted the socio-cultural aspect of the project, which combines the training of a team of technicians searching for new career opportunities with the restoration of technical heritage.

Indeed, Momo, Abdel and Luis – together with the machines, of course! - were the stars of the evening! Proud as they are about their work and genuinely interested as they are in their restoration mission, they have naturally taken charge of explaining the work they did on the machines. The audience showed to be really interested in their words and followed them all over the machinery room. As Guido – the author and mentor of the project – said at the occasion, these machines also belong to them now!

This evening was made even more pleasant thanks to the generous donations from our two favourite breweries in Brussels – Brasserie Cantillon and Brasserie de la Senne. Tasting their beautifully crafted products in such a scenery was a true delight. Many thanks to them!