Over the next five years, the municipality – in consultation with the board of the skate park – will look for a permanent location. If it were up to the board members, the hall would remain in its current location.
Stefan: “That all depends on the future plans for the southern strip of the Waarderpolder. I don’t know how that will work out, but I hope they will include us in those plans. If we have to move, it will cost a lot of money. This place is perfect. It is remote, we never receive complaints from the area.”
Olympic sport
Getting started with a skateboard is as popular as ever. “That popularity has actually increased in recent years,” says Stefan. “Many people also started skating during corona times, because there was little else to do. And now that it is an Olympic sport, municipalities are also more inclined to do something for skaters.”
Thomas: “And that is why we hope that we can stay here. It is ideal here. We have also shown the municipality that we can stand on our own two feet. We are independent.”
“We are an accessible place for target groups in Haarlem who often have nowhere else to go. We organize many events, but there are never any problems. There is a lot of social control within the groups that come here. We have a large following, for the time being the future looks good.”