After library’s departure, P.C. Hoofthuis grows ever quieter
The sports facilities had already disappeared, the library followed last summer, and more and more classrooms and offices remain unused. The P.C. Hoofthuis is falling ever more silent. For those left behind, the consequences are now acutely felt: “This is not sustainable.”
With a mourning card, a silent march, a memorial service, and coffee with cake, dozens of students bid an elaborate farewell to the P.C. Hoofthuis over seven months ago. Although the monumental building will remain in use as a UvA location for the time being, many feared that the library's move to the Binnengasthuisterrein would herald the beginning of the end for the beloved building.
For anyone who steps inside the building on Spuistraat a semester later, that fear initially feels unjustified. The bike racks along the street are overloaded with bicycles, the hallways are busy, the study spots on the ground floor are well-occupied, and in the larger halls on the first floor, lectures are in full swing. False alarm, you would say.
Yet, the busyness doesn't tell the whole story. On the upper floors, between the concrete structures, long hallways, and incomprehensible staircases that characterize the building, it is the emptiness that is most noticeable. The former library, which occupied parts of the first and second floors, now forms a dark void in the center of the building. A loss, according to Ruben Chapp, a Spanish lecturer who has worked in the building since 1993. “It has mainly become less enjoyable here,” he says. “This building isn't very cozy to begin with, but now that fewer and fewer students are coming, it also feels more impersonal. It's a real shame: since I've been working here, I've only seen it get emptier.”
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Growing Quieter
The relocated library is the most visible cause, but the relative quiet in the building is a combination of factors. The USC sports facilities had already disappeared in 2020. Another factor mentioned is the declining interest in language studies, which has reportedly led to fewer students in the hallways for some time. Added to this is a recent budget-cutting measure from the university: offices are being merged, leaving several floors now largely empty.
The schedule also shows that the use of the P. C. Hoofthuis is continuing to decline. For example, compared to a year earlier, almost 15 percent fewer activities were scheduled in “PCH” during the first semester of this academic year. Compared to the 2023-2024 academic year, this even amounts to a drop of almost 20 percent.
Smeer ’em
At the Smeer ’em canteen on the third floor, they are feeling the consequences more and more. Owner Linda Rooth no longer sees the decline just in the empty chairs around her counter, but now primarily in her finances. “Since the library left, our revenue has plummeted by 57 percent,” Rooth says. “There are just a lot fewer people.”
For the restaurant, this has already led to drastic measures: Rooth's business partner, Rick Havertong, has been forced to leave to cut costs, and ‘Lin’ herself expects to close her business this summer. “I hear from many students that they think it's a shame, and I do too. I could keep doing this work for years, but it's just not sustainable this way.”
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Future
Although the P.C. Hoofthuis will remain a UvA location for the time being, the slow emptying of its facilities fuels fears of its definitive end. Flyers with the words “Save the PCH” and “PCH is dying” hang throughout the building. Furthermore, former UvA vice-president Jan Lintsen hinted in an interview with Folia last year that with the arrival of the new University Library, selling the building is becoming an increasingly serious option.
Until that happens, the labyrinth on Spuistraat will presumably remain a relatively quiet UvA location. And that doesn't only have disadvantages. As one student puts it: “At least there’s plenty of room here.”
