More than 200 churchgoers are welcomed every Sunday in a former office building in Almkerk. Not really suitable for church services, says the Dutch Reformed Church in the village. She wants to move to a nearby retail building, but that has the necessary feet in the earth.
Wood rot in the frames, a written central heating boiler and a roof that is due for replacement. The Voorhof, the building where the Dutch Reformed Church Almkerk is housed, is slowly crumbling.
From 1936 to 1993 it was used as an office of the Central Technical Service for the Land van Heusden and Altena. In 1994 it was converted into a church building, but today it is no longer sustainable enough.
Refurbishing costs six to seven tons, but the church finds that irresponsible. “We are not going to invest unnecessarily if we may soon move and this building will be demolished,” says Kant Elshout of the Management Committee in the Kerkzaal.
Due to the low ceiling, that space has poor acoustics, which also provides hot summers and cold winters. Because the central heating boiler has been written off, there are electric heaters on the walls.
“Only new construction or relocation to another building would be future -proof,” adds Jos Pruijssen, chairman of the Management Committee.
The church and the vast majority of churchgoers do not see new construction at the current location. That is only financially feasible if there are apartments on top of the church building. “This is experienced as less desirable by our church congregation.”
The church therefore wants to move to a former retail building, only 200 meters away. That has been empty for two years. In 2022 there were already discussions about a project developer who wants to build apartments in Almkerk.
“We have realized an exchange,” explains Pruijssen. As soon as the permit has been granted, the project developer will make apartments on the spot where the church building is still located. After the move of the church, the demolition ball goes into the Voorhof. “They deliver a ready -to -move -in church to us in the shop.” More churchgoers will soon be able to go there than before.
In March 2023, the municipality responded positively to the plan to change the destination of the store to church. But since then hardly any progress has been made. “Very disappointing,” says Pruijssen. “Because we don’t know what it lingers.”
“We want a view so that we can work somewhere,” Elshout adds frustrated. The plan was to move to the new building in January 2027, but in the meantime aiming on June 2027. “The municipality has to make meters and give it a blow. We are tired of waiting.”
“There was noise between church board and the municipality,” says a municipal spokesperson. This was created after the positive assessment of the plan in 2023, presumably due to the handling of the village vision in the city council.
In addition, all larger initiatives in the core of Almkerk were initially arrested. Although it was later indicated that (housing) building developments can continue, the municipality of Altena has so far not received an application for the redevelopment of the former shop to church.
