Abandoned Hangar Convert to 'Mega-Brothel' in Belgian City

The hangar in the Belgian city of Ostend, with protected architectural status, is planed by the municipality to turn into to into a “safer” workplace for sex workers. The interior can be renovated according to necessity, but the exterior of the premises cannot be changed.
Under the plan approved by the local council, prostitutes of Ostend’s red light district is set to be cleared and moved to the hangar. As well as accommodating the city’s sex workers, the hangar will also hold a bar, brewery and plaza once the conversion is complete.

Prostitution is legal in Belgium and since 1995 the renting of premises for such purposes has been permitted and is believed to employ some 26,000 women.
Ostend’s mayor, Johan Vande Lanotte, claimed the new arrangement would offer more security. He said: “The ladies will enter into a rental contract directly with the owner, as a result of which intermediaries will be excluded.
“The conditions will be better, and the sector will be purified. Abuses will be excluded or certainly limited. There will also be a health centre, an information desk and a room for the police.”
The complex, which will be run by a group connected to the Antwerp’s super brothel Villa Tinto is expected to open by 2020.
The brothel will be known as “Hangar d’amour” and will be run by the same company that manages a 51-bedroom in Antwerp,known as Villa Tinto.
The plans have been described as “madness” by the non-profit group Oostendse Oosteroever, which had been campaigning for the hangar to be turned into a museum to celebrate the town’s maritime past.
>Juthy Saha