Good cooperation with other cultural institutions in Roden is important for the ‘relevance’ of the museums, Van der Broek thinks. In the so-called ‘Heritage Dome’, which can be roughly drawn around the Brink, institutions such as the Toy Museum, the Scheepstra Kabinet and Museum Havezate Mensinge support each other. They do this by exchanging knowledge and skills.
Today it was announced that Van der Broek, in addition to her work for the Toy Museum, will also become director of Museum Havezate Mensinge. A logical step, interim director Ed Scherbeyn said today at the announcement. And Van der Broek thinks so too. “We expect that in this way we can turn two museums that are sometimes quite vulnerable into two stronger museums.”
Van der Broek will start her dual position on January 1, 2024. She says she first wants to talk to all Mensinge employees and volunteers before she can say anything meaningful about what needs to change. “It’s not my style to waltz in there now and immediately change all kinds of things. That kind of thing comes from the bottom up.”
Not only the plans of the Toy Museum, the planning is also ambitious. The recruitment of sponsors and funds must be completed by February 2024. An urban development design must be completed in the first quarter and a final design in the summer of 2024. Construction must then start quickly in order to open in the spring of 2025.
Van der Broek knows that this outlines a smooth process. “But we have a commitment from the municipality of Noordenveld that we will end up in a kind of ‘permit process-light’.”