Delay threatens new education building on REC
On 1 September, a new temporary education building on the Roeterseiland campus was to be opened. However, the municipality is taking longer to decide on the permit, thereby jeopardising the planned opening.
The miniature park on the Roeterseiland campus has already been dug up and the bicycle racks have been moved, but the municipality of Amsterdam has indicated it needs more time to decide on the environmental permit that the UvA has applied for. This is necessary for the construction of the temporary education building on the Roeterseiland campus.
On 25 April the municipality announced in the Municipal Gazette that the decision-making period "for the construction of a temporary school building on the Valckenierstraat" had been extended by six weeks. This means that the municipality will not make a final decision regarding the intended construction of the temporary educational building between Crea and building J/K at the REC until the first week of June at the latest. After their decision is made, interested parties may still submit their opinions on it.
Count on it
All in all, the construction is likely to be delayed, especially since it is expected that individual or organised groups of residents of the Sarphatistraat will submit so-called opinions since they have a different vision for the layout of the area than the UvA. “You can bet that opinions will be submitted," says Michel Snoeren, one of the residents of the Sarphatistraat.
In the meantime, preparatory groundwork, which had been halted for a few weeks, has been resumed. A spokesperson for the UvA's Housing Development Department says that local residents will soon be informed of the progress of the project.
It was always the intention that the extra teaching building would be there at the start of the new academic year in September and that it would remain there for a maximum of 10 years.
