The site brings together four elements dating from very different periods:[1] The Memorial is built in the run-up to the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo to replace the "outdated and uninteresting Visitor's Centre".

[3] Its construction has been described as a "rebirth after years of tired entertainment, poor restoration and neglected surroundings" by the press, which emphasised the fact that "the Walloon Region has finally understood all the interest of this jewel in the middle of the fields".

[3][5][6] The "Battle of Waterloo 1815" Intercommunal Association manages the site in its early days, but the Walloon Region and the Intercommunal Association decide to call on real tourism professionals to take full advantage of the renovated facilities on the battlefield: a call for tenders is launched at the European level in 2018 and the contract is awarded to Kléber Rossillon, a private French company that already managed nine heritage and tourist sites in France, including the Musée de Montmartre, the Ardèche train, the Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle and the Chauvet Cave.

[7][6] This memorial depicts the events of the famous battle that led to the defeat of Emperor Napoleon in 1815, and is a true tribute to the 40,000 soldiers killed or wounded during the fights.

It also presents the skeleton of the "Waterloo Soldier", discovered in 2012 during an archaeological investigation on the site of a new parking lot, and which probably belonged to a Hanoverian who died during the battle.