Sunday, July 24, 2011

New Social Center Squatted. Nieuw sociaal centrum in speculatiewoestijn Oost


After years of dilipidation the former pet asylum is turned into a new social center for Amsterdam. We have plans for all sorts of activities but first we need to clean and reconstruct the place.

Developing the Polderweggebied is one of Amsterdam East's prestige projects. According to the plans the development should have been finished years aho but the developers will not start building until the market improves. The planned House of Dance appears to have been cancelled. The music center MusiQ is the only thing that appears to have worked out (after the neighborhood council injected a sum of 30 million into it). The empty space of the Polderweggebied (redubbed Oostpoort) now symbolizes how the wet dreams of developers and the councils turned into a nightmare.

There is just one building on the plain: the former pet ayslum. The building wasn't demolished because of its monumental status but the neighborhood council let it rot for years. Plans of neighborhood residents to use the building were unsuccessful as a result of bureaucratic obstinacy.

We want to create a space without subsidies or profit motives. What exactly will happen in the new center depends on the idea from the environment and the efforts of volunteers. But for now we're busy fixing the place. The building has been sorely neglected for years, there are no services and some spaces are unbelievably dirty. In the following weeks, we will clean and reconstruct, so please come by if you want to help.

E-Mail: devalreep@gmail.com
Website: http://valreep.wordpress.com/
s.o.s
s.o.s

People needed for reconstructing the Dierenasiel:)

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