Politics in Emmen responds distributed to the million amount involved in the recovery of the Biochron building. Where one party speaks of a ‘sensible compromise’, others denounce the ‘megalomaniac plan’ and the lack of supervision. The repair work costs 2.5 million euros, of which the municipality pays six tons. The rest will be borne by contractor Koenen Bouw.
The new building in the Rensenpark has been struggling with moisture problems since last year. During the recovery operation announced, the natural stone facade is completely replaced. Earlier, the renovation was more expensive due to rising energy and construction costs, which means that the project is now moving towards 10 million euros. Multiple political groups about the outcome, but generally also saw the need for the solution.
Patrick de Jonge of the VVD is hard in his opinion: “From the start we were against the renovation of the Biochron. We have warned several times about this megalomaniac plan. Unfortunately we were right.” Nevertheless, he acknowledges that the negotiated compromise is better than a precious judgment. Jeroen Mulder wondered if the municipality is able to keep sufficient control of large construction projects. Given the problems in the past with similar matters.
According to Klaas Bosma of the PVV, contractor Koenen Bouw should have rather sound the bell: “The problems were in the implementation. This should have been signaled earlier. Perhaps we should exclude them in the future with municipal tenders.”
Wim Moinat of the SP calls the extra costs “strong”, but praises the result of the negotiations: “The deal is well settled, and the recovery can now finally take place.” Leo Hoogenberg from Wakker Emmen also speaks of a difficult compromise: “Not what we wanted, but it must happen. Incomprehensible that it took so long.”
Alderman Jan Bos calls the situation around the Biochron project ‘Not Beautiful’. “Nobody was waiting for this. This is not a nice outcome,” said Bos.
The municipality had extensive technical and legal research. “Legal advice showed that we as a municipality were in good position. But the contractor initially refused to carry out the recovery,” says Bos. “We did not get further in the discussion and then the current proposal came to the table: a solution that costs a little more, but where the contractor does offer a guarantee on the recovery.”
In the end, both parties came closer together. “We started in the consultation with a lower amount, the contractor with a higher amount for the recovery. Ultimately, we ended up somewhere in the middle. It is important that everything that is added to extra costs is entirely for the account of the contractor. That was a hard requirement,” Bos concludes. The council must give a blow to the plan at the end of this month. The expectation is that the work will be on it at the end of 2025.
The Biochron project once started with a budget of 5.5 million euros, but ran out considerably due to price increases and construction problems. According to aldermen Jan Bos and Albert Jan Jakobs, there is good negotiations and a precious and long -term lawsuit was not in the interest of the municipality. The former biochron becomes the new accommodation of the cultural body deep (formerly Center for Visual Arts).