Making a virtue of necessity. This is what councilor Clemens Otto van Assen Centraal thinks about the Resurrection Church in Marsdijk, which is being put up for sale. He wants to have the church building converted into a residence for seniors.
His idea is for the municipality of Assen to purchase the church together with housing association Actium, and then build about twenty senior rental apartments there. “That is an excellent residential location for the elderly, who would love to continue living in the Marsdijk district, but on a smaller scale. However, there are currently no suitable houses to be found in this district,” says Otto.
Last week it was announced that the Protestant Church Assen is selling two churches, including the one in Marsdijk. Because the coffers are empty and the number of churchgoers has fallen sharply in recent years. The Jozef Church in the heart of Assen will be the future location for churches. Otto, who has lived in Marsdijk for 32 years, sees salvation in a new destination for the Resurrection Church.
He says he regularly bumps into peers in Marsdijk who want to get rid of their large single-family home and rent back something smaller. Now that the Protestant Church of Assen is putting the church up for sale, a great opportunity has presented itself, Otto believes.
The place is close to all amenities. Because the Opstandingskerk is adjacent to the shopping center, the doctor’s practice, the pharmacy and the De Dissel community center. “If you as a municipality can turn this into a beautiful residential location for seniors, you can kill two birds with one stone with the current housing shortage. Elderly people leave their oversized family home, which then becomes available for younger families. And the seniors get a suitable place in the neighborhood where they would like to stay.”
Otto has now asked the mayor and aldermen questions whether they see benefit in the church as a residential location.