The first pile for hotel Het Witte Veen has been driven into the ground. Almost a year after a devastating fire in Witteveen, the owners can look ahead again.
On April 23, 2022, flames shoot meters high from the thatched roof of the hotel on K. Brokweg just outside the village. A chimney fire. Fire brigades from Zweeloo, Schoonoord, Hoogeveen, Zwinderen and Westerbork need about 3.5 hours to extinguish the fire. Large clouds of smoke can be seen in the surrounding area. The 45 guests and staff are unharmed, but hotel Het Witte Veen is completely destroyed. The Boer family, owner of the hotel, has lost their business and their home.
“Last year we moved heaven and earth to rebuild the hotel”, Robin Boer, son of the owners, looks back. But that takes quite a bit of effort. “A month ago we received the building permit, but the financing was not yet complete. Fortunately, we also received the green light for that two weeks ago.”
The Boer family thinks they are well insured against fire. But it soon becomes clear that a new hotel is more expensive than the amount that the insurance pays out for the hundred-year-old building that burned down. Among other things, a crowdfunding is being set up and after that it remains puzzling.
“Prices have risen sharply in recent years,” says son Robin. “The insurance was based on the old building and the outbuildings. It was not designed for new technologies such as heat pumps and solar panels. That is why we have to invest more than we get paid out.”
In the end, the Boer family gets it done. The crowdfunding is a huge boost, and they also receive help from an external entrepreneur. In addition, entrepreneurs from the region help, so that the family quickly has their household goods again and the staff can temporarily find work elsewhere.
Partly thanks to the help, there will be another hotel just outside Witteveen next year. A hotel with 26 rooms that is ready for the future. “The building must become energy neutral,” says owner Albrecht Boer. “We actually want to get rid of gas completely, but we depend on other parties for that. That remains to be seen, but it looks good. It will be very nice.”
If construction goes according to plan, hotel Het Witte Veen will be completed on May 31 next year.
The day after the fire, we spoke with son Robin Boer, who looks back on the fatal day: