The shovel will go into the ground this fall for the large -scale renovation of the former bus depot on the Eerste Bokslootweg in Emmen. Towards the end of 2026 there must be a real innovation center at this location, a place where government, entrepreneurs and education will work together.
The former bus storage of Arriva was purchased by the municipality of Emmen two years ago. The location is part of the Greenwise Campus, an education boulevard that is being developed in the corner of Dordsestraat and Boermarkeweg.
This site covers, among other things, the former site of the Aquarena swimming pool, Camping Emmen and the current location of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences.
The GreenWise Campus is an initiative of the University of Groningen, NHL Stenden, DC Terra (resulting from the Drenthe College and Terra merger), the province of Drenthe and the municipality of Emmen.
The campus will get started with innovations for the manufacturing industry, green energy and circular plastic. Emmen has previously expressed the ambition to become an international leader in this area.
The bus depot thereby undergoes a sturdy metamorphosis. The current location will be once as large: from 4500 to 8500 square meters. A new shell will be created around the building, Greenwise director Annette Verhoef explains. “In that case, the space will be divided into offices, laboratories, testing grounds and places for start-ups.”
Verhoef will soon describe the new innovation center as a clubhouse and ‘Bruist tablet’ full of innovative collaboration and creative cross -pollination.
The new building involves an investment of 12 million euros. All participants contribute to this. A financial support is the subsidy of ten million euros from the government that was awarded last year. A good part of that money is therefore reserved for this job.