1/3 Show Dolphijn on one of the footbridges at a height of 30 meters that he built together with other volunteers in the Brigida Dome (photo: private collection).
It would be the crowning glory of years of renovation of the Heilige Brigidakerk in Geldrop. Around this time, scaffolding would be built around the church to replace the 14,000 slates of the largest church dome in Brabant. The possible presence of a bat throws a spanner in the works.
Toon Dolphijn (79) is one of the mainly retired voluntary handymen who keep the church in good condition. “I don’t see it happening again this year because it has to be completed in September because after that the weather will be too bad,” he said disappointed.
Tone is a bit gloomy. “Although it hasn’t been called off definitively yet, I have a hard mind that it will soon be okay. It’s not just the postponement, but you can see that the prices of goods and labor are rising on all sides.” 550,000 euros has been set aside for the renewal of the large church dome. The job must be completed in six months, with scaffolding taking three months to complete.
“Replacing 14,000 roof slates would be a highlight.”
“Replacing the 130-year-old slates on the enormous dome would be the highlight of this year,” Toon says, a bit taken aback. “Theoretically, that is still possible, but I don’t believe that permit will come about anytime soon. Those bat houses must meet all dimensions exactly and be hung in a favorable place for bats. By the time this is all completed, it will no longer be possible to to renew the roof before the autumn, with possible bad weather.”
At the age of 22, Toon was the youngest contractor in the Netherlands. He has built dozens of houses (for people) in his life, but now he and his fellow handymen are making bat houses. It seemed like a formality at the time. Before the roof of the church was to be replaced, the possible presence of protected species and plants was first examined.
“Maybe those bat tracks had been there for years.”
“During a check, traces of the bat were found,” says Toon. “There were leftovers of an eaten butterfly at a great height. A sign that a bat had been here. Maybe those leftovers had been there for years, but now we have to get bat boxes first.”
For the past eight years, the church has been almost Toon’s second home. Together with a group of retired handymen, he built walkways in recent years, they renovated the wooden inner framework of the towers, nave, side aisles and dome. And all that at a height of thirty meters.
“Of the 15 volunteers, six are still alive.”
“We have received many compliments from the Monuments Committee about the good state of maintenance of the Brigida Church. But we also take care of the cemeteries. If a bench is broken or a lock needs to be replaced, we also repair it. the 15 volunteer handymen who once started the renovation, there are only six left. I hope that those six will all experience that the Brigida Dome will shine with a new roof.”